End of the line for South Stream?

The Russian government is not considering the continuation of a gas pipeline construction under the Black Sea through Bulgaria, after the project was suspended by Bulgaria at the request of the European Commission in June 2014.

The South Stream project foresaw the construction of a pipeline that would supply natural gas from Russia to Austria, across a route that would run under the Black Sea and through Bulgaria.

The pipeline was deemed non-compliant with the European Union's Third Energy Package, which prohibits companies from both owning the gas and operating the pipeline. Since it did not comply with EU legislation, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, officially cancelled the project in December 2014 and announced its replacement pipeline, which would pass through Turkey – the Turkish Stream.

While in August, the Bulgarian Prime Minsiter, Boyko Borisov, said that Sofia and Moscow could restart the South Stream negotiations, Russian Energy Minister, Alexander Nova told reporters at the Eastern Economic Forum that "there is no ongoing discussion on Bulgaria, there is no [work on] the South Stream project."

Alexey Miller, CEO of Russian firm, Gazprom, furthered this by stating that The expected reissuance by the Turkish authorities of Turkish Stream permits – which Gazprom had also requested for the South Stream project – does not imply that Gazprom may continue work over the project in the previous configuration.

Edited from various sources by Anna Nicklin

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/project-news/05092016/end-of-the-line-for-south-stream/