Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (2-L) welcomes Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) at St. Petersburg's airport. Photo by BGNES
The Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, and his Italian and Turkish counterparts, Silvio Berlusconi and Recep Erdogan, are discussing Thursday the “South Stream” project.
The news about the talks regarding the future of the gas pipe line was announced by Putin himself, cited by Russian and Bulgarian information agencies.
Silvio Berlsuconi arrived Wednesday on an unofficial visit to Russia on the occasion of Putin’s birthday celebrations.
The gas pipe line “South Stream,” when completed, will transport 63 B cubic meters of gas and will connect the Bulgarian and Russian Black sea coast.
Russian media wrote Wednesday that, in exchange for the Turkish participation in “South Stream,” Russia has decided to cancel the oil pipe line “Burgas-Alexandroupolis” and participate instead in the “Samsun-Djehan” oil line, which is going to pass through Turkey, not Bulgaria.
The Deputy President of the Russian “Transneft,” Mihail Barkov, said, however, in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) that the “Burgas-Alexandroupolis” oil line through Bulgaria can exist without interfering with the “Samsun Djeihan” one in Turkey. Barkov rejected the claims that Russia has decided to strike off “Burgas-Alexandroupolis.”
The future of “Burgas-Alexandroupolis” and the other Russian energy projects is expected to become clearer later Thursday after the conclusion of the negotiations between Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shmatko and the Russian Deputy PM, Sergey Sobianin.