Min: Bulgaria to Make South Stream Contracts Public

Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Dragomir Stoynev. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria will make public the contracts signed with Gazprom on the South Stream natural gas pipeline project once they are finalized, stated Bulgarian Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev.

Speaking in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio Sunday, Stoynev explained that no final contracts were signed during Thursday's visit of Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, which heralded the launch of South Stream in Bulgaria.

"The contract will be signed once the public procurement procedure for a contractor is complete," said Stoynev.

"At this point we only signed preliminary agreements - one of them being for the financing of the project - that we requested before any start of work on the project," added he.

The Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy vowed that once the contract is ready, it will be made available to the public.

This comment was made after Saturday Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev stressed on the need for transparency for the project.

"Of course, in contracts of this kind there is also an ingredient of corporate secret," added Stoynev.

Stoynev stressed that the Bulgarian government has negotiated very favorable conditions in the agreements, and that Bulgaria will start receiving dividend from the pipeline from the first year of its functioning.