site.btaTwo Appeals Stand in the Way of Construction of South Stream Component Project

Sofia, August 8 (BTA) -  Two appeals were filed Friday against the anticipatory enforcement of a permit for the construction of a pump station and a pipe terminal for the South Stream gas pipeline at Pasha Dere near Varna, on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the Regional Development Ministry said.

The appeals were submitted through the Ministry to the Supreme Administrative Court by Radan Kanev of the Right-wing Reformist Bloc and by the Civic League for Bulgaria, just before the expiration of a deadline for contesting the anticipatory enforcement. 

The construction permit was issued by former Regional Development Minister Dessislava Terzieva on July 31 and  made the start of construction works practically
irreversible - despite the declarations by former Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski that Bulgaria had put South Stream in the freezer until all concerns of the European Commission for violation of the EU energy liberalization rules are dispelled.

The Regional Development Ministry said in a statement Friday 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 that, including municipalities and NGOs.
 
The building permit allows the contractor to go ahead with the construction works at the Pasha Dere location before the expiration of a 14-day deadline for contesting the permit.

"We heard about the South Stream decision [for the Pasha dere facility] from the news media and a check was immediately ordered. It is legally impossible for the Ministry to contest its own decision even though there has been a change of
ministers. There are two options from now on: either the anticipatory enforcement is contested within three days [from its gazetting on August 5] by persons such as municipalities or NGOs, or the permit is challenged before the Supreme Administrative Court within 14 days  by the same persons and not by the Council of Ministers," Deputy Prime Minister Iliana Tsanova said on Nova TV Friday.

The Bulgarian building permit for the South Stream project in its entirety was issued last year but each project component requires a separate building permit as well, "Capital Daily" wrote in a story on Thursday. According to this story, South
Stream cannot start if the construction of the Pasha Dere pump station and terminal has not started.

When he announced the composition and priorities of the caretaker government of Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki on August 5, President Rosen Plevneliev said that South Stream would remain frozen until it gets a green light from the European Commission.