Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will not attend an energy summit of Black Sea nations in Sofia, Putin's spokesman said on Tuesday.

Moscow will instead send Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko to the Black Sea conference.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov specified the change in plans had nothing to do with the negotiations with Bulgaria on the South Stream project about a new gas pipeline from Russia to Europe.

"Work is going on in a very constructive atmosphere," Peskov said. "Sooner or later, we expect agreements ... this is a very complicated project. That is not a secret."

Peskov said that, with Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev due in Moscow on April 28, it made no sense in terms of protocol for Putin to visit him in Sofia only a few days earlier.

"It was considered that it will be better, if Stanishev is coming here ... to discuss the whole situation taking into account the results of the conference," Peskov said.

The EUR 10 B South Stream pipeline, which Gazprom and Italian oil firm Eni plan to build, will bypass Ukraine, the biggest and most politically troubled route for Russian gas to Europe. It is seen as a rival to Nabucco and will take Russian gas under the Black Sea to southeast Europe.

Russia has already secured Bulgarian, Hungarian and Greek participation in the project and has won the right to carry South Stream through Serbia. 

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