Russia`s Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin (L) and his press secretary Dmitry Peskov (R) at his campaign headquarters in Moscow, Russia 04 March 2012. Photo by EPA/BGNES
Dmitriy Peskov, Spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, has confirmed changes to the schedule of the visits of the Russian President to Turkey and Bulgaria.
Peskov, as cited by the Rosblat news agency, explained that the Russian head of state was dealing with health issues caused by an old sports injury.
Putin's Spokesperson informed that the visits of the Russian President to Turkey and Bulgaria had been postponed from October and November to December at the request of the Russian side.
Peskov added that there were no fixed days for the journey.
Putin's visit to Bulgaria was initially scheduled for November 9, when the two countries were expected to sign a contract for the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline and the new six-year contract for gas supplies to Bulgaria.
At the beginning of the week, Energy and Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev confirmed that the signing of the contracts had been scheduled for November 9.
The gas contract is expected to be signed by Gazprom head Alexey Miller on the Russian side.