Bulgaria Rightists Rise up against South Stream Timetable

According to right-wing leader Martin Dimitrov there is no clarity about the project’s yields and how long it would take for Bulgaria’s investments to pay off. Photo by BGNES

Two days after Bulgaria and Russia agreed on a road map for the South Stream gas pipe, the leader of Bulgaria’s biggest right-wing party has warned of the project huge funding problems and what these could mean for the country.

“Bulgaria’s section of South Stream that will carry natural gas from Russia across the Black Sea to western Europe is estimated to cost USD 860 M. This is an awful lot of money that Bulgaria just does not have,” Martin Dimitrov told the Bulgarian National Radio.

The same figure was mentioned on Saturday by Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Traicho Traikov after he signed the “roadmap” for the gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters.

Asked about the funding of the project however the minister said “it was too early to think about who and how will do that”.

According to right-wing leader Martin Dimitrov there is no clarity about the project’s yields and how long it would take for Bulgaria’s investments to pay off.

“South Stream does not help Bulgaria diversify its energy supplies. This project is good only for Russia, since it offers an alternative route, which bypasses Ukraine,” he pointed out.

Dimitrov warned that Russia will not lower its gas prices for Bulgaria for nothing and will tie this up with some of the big energy projects.

“The only scenario, in which I can imagine the Russians agreeing on lower gas prices is to ask for something in return with regard to the South Stream or Belene nuclear power plant project. This is what worries me most. This is what I think happened during the recent negotiations between the two sides, but it is still in an initial stage.”

The negotiations with Russia to lower the prices of natural gas for Bulgaria have been successful, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, announced on Saturday.

The exact amount of the reduction and whether Bulgaria has made the lowering of prices a condition for signing the South Stream road map remain unclear.