Bulgaria's Foreign Minister, Ivaylo Kalfin, stated Wednesday that Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has decided to skip the Sofia Energy summit over the "South Stream" project.

Kalfin's statement, cited by the Bulgarian news agency BGNES, added to the confusion created by contradictory reports regarding Russia's PM motives to cancel his participation in the summit.

Also on Wednesday, the Russian daily newspaper Kommersant reported that Putin cancelled his expected trip to Bulgaria in protest against the planned "Nabucco" gas pipeline, and the European countries concentrating on sourcing natural gas from outside Russia, suggesting that the "Nabucco" pipeline that sources gas from Azebaijan will harm EU-Russia relations.

On his part Kalfin explained through a rather ambiguous statement that Putin canceled the trip because the Russian Federation connected his presence with the "South Stream" gas line, adding that the agreement for the above project has not yet been reached and some details needed to be finalized.

Bulgaria's top diplomat said the mixing of the topics to be discussed at the summit was unforeseen, thus Putin's last minute change of mind.

According to the Foreign Minister the negotiations over "South Stream" are held between the Russian "Gazprom" and the Bulgarian Energy Holding on the level of government agreements.

Kalfin refused to offer further details about the controversial clauses in the negotiations between the two countries, adding "South Stream" is an important project, but it is also crucial to protect the interests of each side.

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