Bulgaria Regrets Russia’s Decision to Quit South Stream - Ambassador

Bulgaria regrets Moscow’s decision to stop work on the South Stream gas pipeline, according to Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Russia Boyko Kotsev.

Stressing Bulgaria’s reliability as a participant in the gas pipeline project, Kotsev, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, informs that the Bulgarian companies involved in the scheme keep working on it in order to meet their contractual obligations.

“We are closely following the statements of public figures in Russia but we also have contractual obligations under these agreements that have not been officially revoked,” he states, adding that public statements and contractual obligations are two different things.

He goes on to say that discussions on energy supply to the region are currently taking place on an EU-level.

“We receive gas from three sources and now a fourth one is being developed, the Caspian region, and a prospective fifth one - the Middle East. This is very important to us because when Russia and Ukraine are quarreling, Bulgaria suffers,” he argues.

He informs that Bulgaria is working to achieve energy diversification and is actively developing its gas grid interconnections with Greece, Turkey, Serbia, and Romania.

“Bulgaria has a sufficiently branched-out gas transmission system, which makes it a reliable transit partner,” Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Russia points out.

Citing geological surveys pointing to substantial gas reserves in Bulgaria’s continental shelf, Kotsev adds that the start of the development of these sites is being planned.

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