There can be no return to the South Stream project in its previous form, it became clear after a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin made during a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest. However, he hinted that Russia may build a new undersea pipeline to Bulgaria if it received the support of the European Union.

This rather vague and undefined statement nourishes hopes of Bulgaria for becoming a kind of hub for Russian gas to Europe. However, the first reaction of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov was cautious.

After the failure of the "South Stream" trans-European gas pipeline now Sofia plans to become at least a regional transit gas hub for the neighbouring Balkan and nearby European countries like Romania, Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia. But will there be gas to distribute? The response of the authorities in Sofia is positive, while experts remain skeptical and Brussels has focused attention on other problems. Supporters of the new plans say that the official Russian "South Stream" intended to deliver 64 billion cubic meters of gas annually has not been officially terminated and it could provide the gas for the Bulgarian hub. What Vladimir Putin said in Budapest actually supports this view. The second argument in favour of the new gas ideas of ​​the second cabinet of Prime Minister Borisov focuses on the strategic geographical position of the country and planned gas links with Romania, Greece, Turkey and Serbia. Another argument in favour of the gas hub idea is the alleged presence of gas reserves in the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea. Sofia strongly hopes that gas would be found as shown by the recent London meeting of former minister and current chairman of the influential parliamentary committee on Energy Delyan Dobrev with senior representatives of some of the largest companies for exploration for and exploitation of oil and gas fields in the world - Norwegian Statoil, British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell. All of them, according to official statements, expressed great interest and desire to drill for oil and gas near the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

Proponents of the idea of ​​turning Bulgaria into a regional gas hub say that plans for financing the project also exist. The money would come from the EU, while there were opportunities for funding under the Juncker Plan, too.

Critics of the idea of ​​a Central European gas hub in Bulgaria say that even without formal notification of stopping the Russian "South Stream" in Bulgaria, work on the alternative "Turkish Flow" continues and if this pipeline was going to deliver gas to a European hub, it would most likely be in Greece. They are skeptical about planned gas links with neighbouring countries, too, as the gas passing through them will not be competitive on the market. At the same time exploitation of Bulgarian gas reserves could start in an unknown number of years.

English: Alexander Markov