Bulgaria PM Heads for Moscow after Sofia Energy Summit

Business » ENERGY | April 26, 2009, Sunday // 08:26
Bulgaria: Bulgaria PM Heads for Moscow after Sofia Energy Summit It is still not clear whether the South Stream agreement will be signed during Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev's trip to Moscow. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev will pay a working visit to Moscow from April 26 to 28. The visit takes place a day after the international energy summit in Sofia, which was boycotted by Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and precedes the EU-Caspian summit in Prague, organized by the Czech Presidency of the block.

Stanishev is expected to confer with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, with State Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov, and with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

The tone of dialogue between the two countries hardened at the closing of the energy forum on Saturday when Bulgarian President Parvanov that the Russian energy giant must respect Bulgaria's sovereignty.

"I request that Gazprom should not determine with whom they can be keeping in contact in Bulgaria, pretty please. Gazprom has to respect our sovereignty. I am only dealing with the leadership of the Russian Federation and not with some private company", Parvanov said explicitly at the closing press conference of the Sofia Energy Summit when asked about recent Gazprom comments on the arrangements of the South Stream gas pipeline.

Parvanov also explained the position of the Bulgarian side which insisted that the Russians agreed on a package energy deal in which the final agreement on the South Stream gas transit pipeline would be bound to Bulgarian demands for lower natural gas prices.

He reiterated the formal Bulgarian position that a separate South Stream pipe would run along Bulgaria's own gas transit network instead of the latter being used as a permanent part of the Russian-sponsored project.

Even though he made it clear Bulgaria was in no rush to sign the final agreement with Russia for South Stream, Parvanov also pointed out the deal would better be signed before the coming Parliamentary Elections in Bulgaria after which a new government will be in place, thus, practically setting the end of May 2009 as a deadline.

He did mention, however, that the South Stream agreement might be signed within a couple of days during Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev's trip to Moscow, even though Stanishev is going to the Russian capital as part of the cultural and economic program of the Year of Bulgaria in Russia, and specifically for energy talks.

Energy projects with many unsolved issues are a highlight in the traditionally close bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Russia, including the South Stream natural gas pipeline, Belene nuclear power plant and the oil transit pipeline connecting Bulgaria's port of Burgas and Greece's Alexandroupolis.

The Bulgarian government is expected to complete talks for Russian funding for the planned EUR 4,0 B nuclear power plant at Belene. The government chose last year German power utility RWE to become a strategic partner in the Belene project with a stake of 49%. State power utility NEK has a majority stake in the plant.

 

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