Bulgaria has explicitly stated her aspirations to take center stage on the gas market in Southeast Europe by offering the construction of a gas hub not far from the town of Provadia. The project worth approximately 2.2 billion euro translates into building about 844 kilometers of new gas pipelines and other adjacent infrastructure. This was made public yesterday in Sofia, at a high-level conference of the Gas Connectivity Group in Central and Eastern Europe.

Taking part in the conference were officials from EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Vice President of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic and Energy and Climate Commissioner, Miguel Canete.

Next, Maros Sefcovic about the Group’s decision:

Speaking at the Conference, PM Boyko Borissov said that the Bulgarian project was consistent with the requirements of the European Commission Third Energy Package and implied the construction of connections with neighboring countries as well as autonomous gas extraction. However the new project is also linked to the South Stream project suspended by Gazprom. PM Borissov commented as follows:

 “South Stream has not been terminated. As a country Bulgaria has done nothing to stop South Stream construction. The requirement of the European Commission for transfer of gas by alternative suppliers along every pipeline is not Bulgaria’s whim. This is mandatory for Greece and for Romania too.”

It looked as though with these words the PM was trying to persuade Russia that Bulgaria should not be blamed for the termination of the project that was unilaterally suspended by Gazprom after the banking consortium that had to finance 75% of construction works gave it up based on Russia’s reluctance to comply with the requirements of the Third Energy Package. On the other hand, Borissov’s new gas initiative that repeats the suspended South Stream in an extended version is about 50% cheaper than the original project.

Premier Borissov voiced hopes for a U-turn on the project:

"In short, we should like to go back without emotions to a pragmatic solution that would facilitate business relations between Europe and Russia.”

Unlike the Bulgarian PM Sefcovic expressed his dismay with the Russian side’s communication for the suspension of South Stream that had not been conducted along official channels but rather via press releases and media appearances of Gazprom President Alexey Miller.

The EC Vice President said the following:

Now the question is whether Boyko Borissov will be able to persuade the European Commission that the South Stream 2 concept is the right project to pursue in the context of worsened relations with Russia and intensive diplomatic shuttles over the crisis in Eastern Ukraine. Secondly, will the PM succeed in persuading Russia to comply with the requirements of the Third Energy Package? Or is everything rather a game along the thin line between the interests of the European Union and Russia in which stakes are higher than direct benefits?

English Daniela Konstantinova