Bulgaria to Insist on South Stream Construction - PM

The Bulgarian government will insist that EU and Russia should go on with the South Stream project on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said.

A delegation from Sofia is due to take part in the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, a configuration of the Council of the EU scheduled for December 9.

Borisov told lawmakers on Monday morning he was still of the opinion it was "good" for South Stream to pass through Bulgaria.

He added Tomislav Donchev, Deputy PM for Absorption of EU Funds and Economic Policy, and Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova were to attend the meeting on Tuesday.

They will adhere to the proposal that the pipeline be built under EU rules, Borisov added.

At the same time the Prime Minister stressed taxes and fees would be much more profitable to Bulgaria than the gas transit itself, dismissing Russian President Vladimir Putin's estimates of last Monday that Sofia would lose EUR 400 M in revenues every year due to its failure to allow South Stream on its soil.

Various Russian officials have already made clear the project is now over.

The EU, however, is determined to have an official position only after Tuesday's Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council.

Borisov made the announcement in Parliament unexpectedly, since the extraordinary plenary session was called on next year's state budget and his statement (which also triggered a heated debate) was not within schedule.

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