Bulgaria is holding no talks for the restart of the abandoned South Stream gas pipeline project, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said, dismissing a Russian media report that the Bulgarian authorities were pushing hard for new negotiations.

“I can guarantee that I’haven’t raised this issue,” Russian news agency TASS quoted Mitov as saying in an interview for Bulgarian public TV broadcaster BNT on Thursday evening. “None of my colleagues has raised this issue either. This piece of information could be described as contentious, to say the least.”   

Mitov’s comments came after Russian news agency RIA Novosti on Thursday quoted Yury Sentyurin, Russian Deputy Energy Minister, as telling reporters that the ministry had received information that Bulgaria was working to restart the pipeline project.

South Stream had been designed to carry Russian gas to Europe, with the pipeline crossing the Black Sea and coming on shore in EU member Bulgaria. Russian gas giant Gazprom announced in December 2014 it was abandoning the project, citing objections raised by the European Commission.

Earlier this year, Russia and Bulgaria have both dismissed reports that South Stream was to be restarted. 

An announcement made by Gazprom last month, however, has raised speculation that South Stream might be revived in another form. 

Gazprom said in late February that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Italy's Edison SpA and Greece's DEPA SA on Russian gas deliveries under the Black Sea and "via third countries" to Greece and then on to Italy. 

In practice, "third countries" could mean either Bulgaria or Turkey.

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