Bulgaria halts work on South Stream

Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, has ordered a halt to construction work on the South Stream pipeline.

After meeting US Senators John McCain, Christopher Murphy and Ron Johnson, Oresharski ordered all work on the disputed project to continue only after consultations with Brussels.

"At this time there is a request from the European Commission, after which we've suspended the current works, I ordered it," Oresharski told journalists. "Further proceedings will be decided after additional consultations with Brussels."

Last week, the EU opened an infringement procedure against Bulgaria and asked construction on its section of the pipeline to be stopped, arguing that it violates the EU regulations. It believes South Stream does not comply with the rule prohibiting energy producers from also controlling pipeline access.

In addition, the EU is requesting an investigation into how contracts were awarded for work on the pipeline in Bulgaria. The commission is concerned that the contracts for the Bulgarian portion of South Stream were not awarded transparently.

The US has already voiced criticism over Bulgaria's decision to award the construction of the Bulgarian stretch to a consortium led by Russia's Stroytransgaz – a Russian company subject to US sanctions.

Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, is nearly totally dependent on Russian gas and is trying to avoid another cutoff after it was among those who suffered most of the gas price dispute between Russia and Ukraine in 2009.

Gazprom’s 2380 km South Stream pipeline requires European approval, as its route would pass through the territory of several EU countries.

The South Stream dispute is likely to be discussed this week, when officials from Ukraine, Russia and the EU hold talks in Brussels in an effort to resolve Kyiv's natural-gas debt to Moscow.

Edited from various sources by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

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