BBC: Bulgaria Picks Up Pieces of Cancelled Russian Pipe

Views on BG | December 12, 2014, Friday // 08:47
Bulgaria: BBC: Bulgaria Picks Up Pieces of Cancelled Russian Pipe Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria is facing a decision about what to do with pipes of South Stream left useless after the project was abandoned, the BBC reveals in a special report from the country's "maritime capital" Varna.

Giving its account on the developments of the past ten days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the project was over, the BBC points out that, just like the fate of pipes, the details around South Stream have always been "a bit of a mystery anyway," talking to a local journalist and Varna residents.

"Even in Varna, South Stream always felt more like a political project than a viable economic one," the author, Chris Morris, notes.

The Black Sea cost feels now "like another front line" in the past twelve months' standoff between Russia and the EU.

The BBC quotes Iliyan Vasilev, energy specialist and former Bulgarian ambassador to Moscow, as saying Russia has overplayed its "ability to offer material financial incentives to the political elite" and has lost the "ability to change the course of Bulgarian politics and history too."

At the same time Bulgarian links with Russia "run deep," Morris notes citing examples of business ties, Russian-owned properties at the Black Sea and "a shared cultural heritage".

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Tags: South stream, Bulgaria, Vladimir Putin, Varna, Russia, Black Sea

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