All works on South Stream in Bulgaria halted

Bulgarian Ministry of trade and energy ordered the halt of all the works on the South Stream until alignment with the EC requests.

In the letter to Bulgarian energy holding (BEH), which the minister of trade, Vasil Stonov signed, there is a ban on signing any contracts with respect to the South Stream and BEH was asked to provide any kind of support to EC to align the project with EU legislation, Itaar tas reports.

Last week, Stonov said the South Stream project will be implemented because it is important both for Bulgaria and for Russia and the entire EU.

All included parties, however, must realize it will have to be aligned with EU regulations, Stonov outlined.

He expressed expectations that the progress will be visible in two months if they negotiate and work together with Russia and EC.

-Actually, there are no many problems to be solved – Stonov is optimistic.

EC objects Bulgaria mostly because it did not stick to regulations on competition, Ekaterina Zaharijeva, deputy of the Bulgarian Prime Minister for economic development ,mentioned in the recent interview for BTV. Zaharijeva mentioned that the Bulgarians have already given recommendations necessary for changes in the project.

The Bulgarian Ministry of trade and energy mentioned a number of times that the South Stream project is important for Bulgaria both for diversification of gas supply and having in mind the economic aspect.

The main section of the land part of the gas pipeline through Bulgaria would be 541 km long. The project includes construction of the receiving terminal and three compressor station – nearVarna, Lozen and Rasov.

It was planned that the South Stream gas pipeline will transport 30 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to Europe annually.