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The EU's energy ministers are to meet in Bulgaria's capital Sofia on February 9 for a meeting run by Commission Vice-President Maro? ?ef?ovi?, media reports suggest.
Only EU member states will be part of the meeting though a recreation of the energy landscape in Southeast Europe in general will apparently be on the agenda, according to Brussels-based website EurActiv.
There will be no press events but "doorstep statements", the website suggests. Only TTE ministers will reportedly take part.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (TTE) had told Novinite no meeting was on the agenda, despite the statements of Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov and his deputy Tomislav Donchev in mid-January.
The TTE is a configuration of the Council of the EU which brings together ministers overseeing the three portfolios in member states.
Though this is not an explicit reference to the meeting, ?ef?ovi? is quoted as saying that "a very thorough discussion" is set to start among EU ministers from countries lying in the region where the abandoned South Stream pipeline was designed to carry gas. It will be about "how to re-create the energy landscape in South Eastern Europe."
“This part of Europe is not yet adequately integrated into the European energy system. There is still a big need for major infrastructural projects,” ?ef?ovi? added while announcing the results of the first orientation debate on the Energy Union on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in December Moscow would ditch the South Stream project due to the EU's resistance to giving the green light for the pipeline's construction.
?ef?ovi? also commented on the so-called "Turkish Stream" gas pipeline project, saying it would not work and questioning its economic viability, in an apparent response to Russia's warnings that the EU should start preparation to receive gas from the Greece-Turkey border.
Russian energy giant Gazprom maintains that Turkish Stream has already been launched and that it will pump about the same amout of gas that South Stream's capacity had envisaged (63 bcm of gas) to a gub at the border between Greece and Turkey.
Bulgaria has also raised its own proposal for a gas hub near the Black Sea city of Varna (where South Stream's route passes), but Brussels has not produced an explicit assessment.
The Bulgarian National Television reports the Commissioner as saying on Wednesday he will need to see a concrete proposal about the hub giving a clear picture of the idea lying behind it. He also stressed the Commission backed such projects in principle if they were transparent and viable, also allowing for trade in liquefied natural gas.
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