site.btaBulgaria Has Not Given Upon South Stream Gas Pipeline Project, Energy Minister Says

Bulgaria Has Not Given Up on South Stream Gas Pipeline Project, Energy Minister Says

Sofia, August 18 (BTA) - Bulgaria has not given up on the South Stream gas pipeline project, and the country's relations with Russia are traditionally good, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova told journalists on Tuesday. Petkova attended observances of Miners' Day in Sofia.

"We said at the very beginning that South Stream is a very important project for Bulgaria which will help diversify natural gas routes, but it should be carried out in accordance with EU law. Bulgaria has not given up the project," she said.

Speaking at the same news conference, Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB) Board Chairman Kiril Domouschiev said: "I am glad that Russia is softening on Bulgaria." Domouschiev was commenting on a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Crimea. "The pipes for South Stream are in the port of Bourgas and they will be used, whether for South Stream, Turkish Stream or some other project, and there will be some benefit for Bulgaria. No one in the business has given up doing business with Russia," he said.

Meanwhile, Russia's TASS news agency quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying in Yalta, Crimea, on Monday that Bulgaria's membership of NATO did not mean Moscow would break off relations with Sofia.

Bulgaria's accession to NATO is an accomplished fact, Putin said, noting that Moscow was not actually in any way concerned about it.

"I don't know whether Bulgaria itself is happy with it. But the decision has been made. This is a sovereign choice of the Bulgarian people and we respect it and will cooperate with Bulgaria, despite all difficulties connected with the implementation of some projects, including energy projects such as South Stream," the president said, recalling that Sofia had suspended work on Gazprom's South Stream gas pipeline after pressure from the European Commission.

"This does not mean we will not develop relations with Bulgaria," Putin said, quoted by TASS.

Reacting to Putin's remarks, Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Spokesman Atanas Merdjanov said in a statement: "We now have a clear sign that Russia is ready to work with Bulgaria both for the overall development of relations between the two peoples and for concrete projects. It is ever more clear that the way Russia has been portrayed as aggressive and implacable does not correspond to the real intentions of that country."

Merdjanov recalled that when BSP insisted on lifting the international sanctions against Russia on a number of occasions, it stated that Bulgaria's membership of NATO and the EU should not be viewed as an obstacle to the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries. "Bulgaria, with its geopolitical place in the world and its deep intellectual and cultural bond with Russia, is called upon to act as a conciliator and help iron out the differences," he stated.

Regarding South Stream, the BSP Spokesman urged the Bulgarian authorities to seize the opportunity and correct some of their mistakes. "It is time that our policy towards Russia becomes balanced and beneficial for our nation, which can by no means be interpreted as disloyalty towards NATO or the EU. Many countries of Europe have achieved that. Why can't we?" Merdjanov said.