site.btaRegional Development Ministry Sends12 Appeals against South Stream Building Permit to Supreme Administrative Court

Sofia, August 13 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Regional Development Ministry has sent to the Supreme Administrative Court the 12 appeals lodged against a building permit issued for South Stream gas pipeline facilities in Bulgaria, the Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday.

The Ministry has received appeals from three political parties, three associations, one company and four natural persons. Most appellants contest both the merits of the permit and its anticipatory enforcement.

The building permit for a South Stream pump station and a pipe terminal at Pasha Dere near Varna (on the Black Sea) was issued by former Regional Development Minister Dessislava Terzieva on July 31 and made the start of construction works practically irreversible despite declarations by former Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski that Bulgaria had put South Stream on hold until all concerns of the European Commission about violation of EU energy liberalization rules are dispelled.

On August 8, the Ministry said in a statement that it cannot appeal its own permit even though the Minister has changed, but the effective legislation allows a whole list of other entities to do so, including municipalities and NGOs.

Anticipatory enforcement enables the contractor to go ahead with the construction works at Pasha Dere without waiting for the expiration of the 14-day time limit after the August 5, 2014 gazetting of the permit within which it can be challenged before the Supreme Administrative Court.

The Ministry does not uphold the anticipatory enforcement of the permit, which is lawful but may lead to complications because the European Commission's infringement procedure against Bulgaria has not been concluded. "In practice, the anticipatory enforcement may thus harm the State instead of safeguarding the State interest," the press release reads.

On June 3, 2014 the Commission sent Bulgaria a letter of formal notice, saying that owing to the potential infringement of EU law and the possible consequences, the Bulgarian Government must halt all tender procedures and refrain from concluding contracts.

In a letter to the members of the Council of Ministers dated July 31, former Prime Minister Oresharski recalled his position stated publicly in early June that project implementation activities will be suspended until the infringement procedure is finally concluded, the Ministry recalls.