EU to Allocate Frozen Russian Assets to Aid Ukraine
The EU has made a significant decision to allocate profits from its frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine's self-defense and recovery efforts amidst ongoing Russian aggression
A planned "Nord Stream 2" pipeline will hurt the EU's security and help Russia control the bloc's energy markets, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk opined on Thursday.
He called on the EU Commission "to seriously get into the issue" and prevent Russia from facilitating "a bottleneck".
Yatsenyuk added his country would incur losses to the tune of EUR 1.8 B a year if the pipeline is completed.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Baltic counterparts, he said Poland and Slovakia's budgets will be impacted by reducing their roles as gas transit countries.
In his words, quoted by Russian business daily RBC, the countries would lose USD 0.3 B and USD 0.8 B in revenues every year, respectively.
He thus echoed remarks by Robin Dunnigan, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy, who on Thursday warned "cutting off all gas transit through Ukraine would deprive it of .2 billion in annual revenue."
"North Stream-2 actually threatens not only Ukraine's survivability and their resources, but it is a risk to fuel diversification in Europe, especially southeastern Europe," Reuters quoted him as saying.
PMs of Baltic nations joined Yatsenyuk's calls on Brussels to look into the project in more detail, with Estonia's head of government, Taavi Roivas, urging a probe into the compatibility of Nord Stream with EU law.
He announced the PMs had "serious suspicion" that the project didn't comply with the Third Energy Package - a set of regulations aimed at establishing common EU energy rules.
Nord Stream-2 would virtually double the capacity of the existing pipeline delivering gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea (currently at 55 billion cubic meters per year). The new project, however, will also bring direct supplies to other countries such as the UK and France.
Meanwhile, EU Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic opined in Brussels on Thursday that Eastring, another gas pipeline project pursued by Slovakia's gas company Eustream, has to become one of the Union's "priority projects."
At a Bratislava forum, Sefcovic added the list of priority projects was "at a final stage" of preparation. Eastring's inclusion in the list would help set aside additional EU funding for the project.
The proposed pipeline would also carry gas to Bulgaria via Romania and Hungary.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
During a briefing at the Ministry of Energy, it was revealed that Bulgargaz intends to pursue legal action against Gazprom Export, seeking damages amounting to BGN 400 million
"Toplofikatsia Sofia," the capital's heating supply company, has proposed a significant reduction in the price of thermal energy starting from July 1st
The Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Bulgaria is set to embark on a significant transition as it begins the process of replacing Russian nuclear fuel with American fuel from Westinghouse
Bulgargaz, the leading public gas supplier in Bulgaria, anticipates a notable decrease in the price of natural gas for the upcoming month of May. According to Lyudmila Vitanova
Eurostat's latest findings have shed light on the shifting landscape of household energy prices in the European Union, with Bulgaria emerging as a frontrunner in affordability.
The Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) has greenlit the phased transition to a new type of nuclear fuel for Unit 5 of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), manufactured by Westinghouse
Sofia Airport's Terminal 3 Construction Set to Begin in Early 2026
COVID-19 Impact: Bulgaria's Grim Milestone as Highest Death Rate in EU