Bulgaria's outgoing President Georgi Parvanov has expressed his discontent over the demise of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project which the country decided to quit on Wednesday.

"Some people are seeking a decision for the key energy projects too emotionally and too personally, without suggesting anything," Parvanov commented on Saturday. He told reporters that if the oil pipeline does not pass through Bulgaria, it will pass through another country.

"What is the alternative?" the President asked rhetorically, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

"If the alternative is shale gas, I insist on that being back with arguments for Bulgaria's general public. I hear talk about energy liberalization and diversification, but I am the only one – excuse my lack of modesty – who suggested a natural gas diversification option coming from Azerbaijan through Turkey," he pointed out.

Upon asked about another project he firmly supports, the Belene nuclear power plant, the President expressed his concern over the lack of development on it.

Parvanov, whose second and last term in office ends in January 2012, accused the country's ruling centrist-right GERR government of being inactive in the sphere of energy.

Bulgaria broke the news about the cancellation of the oil pipeline project on Wednesday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov explained that Bulgaria would seek a termination of the trilateral intergovernmental agreement by mutual consent.

If the request was rejected, Bulgaria would withdraw from the oil pipeline project in 12 months, Djankov added, stressing that the country would not incur sanctions with the step.

The motive behind the government's decision was said to be the fact that Burgas-Alexandroupolis was financially and economically unsound and could not be implemented under the terms of the 2007 agreement.

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