Russia Courts Macedonia, Invites It to Join South Stream

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C) talks to Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski (L) and Foreign Minister Antonio Milosovski (R) in Ohrid, April 20, EPA/BGNES

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has declared in Ohrid that Moscow intends to boost its cooperation and ties with the Republic of Macedonia.

Lavrov is on a tour of former Yugoslav states, which also includes trips to Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia, and on Wednesday met with his Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki as well as Macedonian President Gjorhe Ivanov and PM Nikola Gruevski; Lavrov last visited Ohrid as Foreign Minister in 1999.

"Relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Macedonia are not at all marred by open political issues. Our duty is only to resume the cooperation. Today's meeting aims at taking advantage of the determination for mutual cooperation, which has been historically existing between our countries for establishment of modern ties in a bid to advance cooperation in the spheres of culture, economy and investments, in line with the agreement made by the presidents of Russia and Macedonia - Dmitry Medvedev and Gjorge Ivanov - at their last year's meeting in Saint Petersburg," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after meeting with Milososki as cited by the Macedonian agency MINA.

"The meeting was a chance to inform my Russian counterpart on the current political and economic developments in Macedonia and on the course of the Macedonian-Greek dialogue involving the name issue," Milososki said in turn regarding the Macedonia-Greece name dispute.

With respect to the ongoing talks for Macedonia's inclusion in the Russian-sponsored gas transit pipeline South Stream, Lavrov said the countries involved in the South Stream project would take into account Macedonia's interests, as cited by ITAR-TASS.

Summing up the results of the talks with Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki on Wednesday, Lavrov said South Stream was being worked out by Russia's Gazprom and its partners from Germany, France and Italy.

"Now the parties are determining an optimal route due to the interests of European countries, particularly of Macedonia," the Russian minister said.

He recalled that last year the Gazprom delegation had visited Macedonia. The delegation studied possibilities to join the project. "Now these possibilities are being discussed," Lavrov said.

ITAR-TASS reminds South Stream is a joint project of Gazprom and Italy's ENI, together with France's EDF and Germany's BASF, which envisages the deliveries of Russian and, possibly, Central Asian natural gas to Europe across the Black Sea. The project costs about 10 billion euros.

Natural gas will be transported from Russia's Novorossiisk seaport to Austria and Italy through Bulgaria's Varna seaport and the Balkan Pipeline. The undersea segment will stretch out for about 900 kilometers at the maximum depth of over 2 000 meters.

The second stretch of the pipeline will link Greece and southern Italy across the Adriatic Sea. Two lines will be laid from Bulgaria across the Balkan Peninsula to Italy and Austria.

The deliveries will start in 2015. The designed capacity of the future pipeline will make up to 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. It will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria. The project is backed by the European Union and the United States.