Juncker: South Stream pipeline still a possibility

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted the US$40 billion South Stream natural gas pipeline can still go ahead and accused Russia of holding EU-member Bulgaria to ransom when it said it had abandoned the project.

Speaking after talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, whose country South Stream would traverse making it a major beneficiary, Juncker rebutted Russia's statement that EU competition rules had killed it.

He told reporters issues relating to the pipeline were not insurmountable and he was working with Bulgaria to address them.

Russia said on Monday it had abandoned the pipeline.

Juncker accused Moscow of blackmailing Bulgaria, which retains strong political and economic ties with Moscow and is almost entirely dependent on Russia for its gas.

"I am not accepting the simple easy idea that Bulgaria can be blackmailed as far as these energy relations are concerned," Juncker said.

"We'll take ... all the necessary steps to make sure that our relations with Russia will be improved, but it doesn't depend only on the willingness of the EU, of the European Commission. To dance a tango ... you need two dancers."

The leaders of Bulgaria and the European Commission made a vocal bid for the continued construction of a pipeline transporting Russian gas to southeastern Europe, despite an announcement by Moscow that the project had been dropped.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, said issues related to the South Stream project “are not insurmountable.”

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: Reuters, Wall Street Journal

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