Russian Foreign Minister to push for South Stream pipeline on trip

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hopes to make headway on construction of the Moscow-backed South Stream gas pipeline during his visit to Bulgaria and Slovenia next week, the ministry said this weekend.

Bulgaria last month halted work on building its section of the pipeline at the behest of Brussels, pending a ruling on whether the project violates European Union competition law by offering no access to third parties.

"We count on carrying forward co-operation in the energy sector, especially in the construction of the Bulgarian section of the South Stream pipeline," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement announcing the trip.

South Stream suspension specifics

Moscow has accused the European Union of putting pressure on some of its partners in the US$ 40 billion project, intended to carry Russian gas to central Europe via the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine and reducing the country's importance as a transit route.

Bulgaria, historically a close ally of Russia, has been a strong supporter of the project, but the country's government said that construction will not resume until Sofia gets a green light from the EU.

In Slovenia, Lavrov will try to convince President Borut Pahor and Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec that Russia offers a good return on investment in energy resources and that the Slovenian part of South Stream would benefit both sides.

The 422 km South Stream project by Russia's state gas producer Gazprom, slated to open in 2018, will travel across Russia, under the Black Sea and then through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Austria.

The aim of negotiations

Apart from the gas issue, the sides will "synchronise watches" on a bilateral, regional and international agenda.

Moscow hopes that the visit will give bilateral political dialogue a new impetus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In the run-up to Lavrov's trip, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed the hope for "progress in interaction [with Sofia] in the fuel and energy sector, primarily as concerns the implementation of the project involving the construction of the Bulgarian section of the South Stream gas pipeline."

In commenting on the agenda of the negotiations in Slovenia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, "Russia is open to Slovenian investment, for which favourable conditions have been provided. The implementation of the South Stream project on Slovenian territory should help increase the volume of mutual investments."

"In this context, Ljubljana and we have the common goal of reaching solutions enabling the South Stream participants to honour their obligations under the intergovernmental agreements that have been concluded, without violating the EU regulations and directives in the energy sector," it said. Moscow attaches primary significance to "the expansion of Russian investment presence in Slovenia, in particular, through privatisation of government property under way there," it said.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

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