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Bulgarian PM: South Stream should have been built without third package; I support Nabucco
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, in the joint press conference with the Romanian and the Serbian Prime Ministers in Craiova on Friday, said that South Stream should have been built without the EU's third energy package and that there currently isn't any contract signed by Bulgaria or Russia. The Bulgarian Prime Minister insisted on pointing out that he supports the Nabucco project, which doesn't cause any inconvenience to the South Stream project, but about which, "unfortunately, no one talks any longer.""Today we still haven't a contract signed concerning South Stream on Bulgaria's or on Russia's side. In regards with this project, there is a procedure concerning Bulgaria. Why? Because South Stream should have been built without the third package. If I must be clearer, as other gas loads should have been transported through that pipeline and at that moment in the Bulgarian ports there were platforms and there are construction materials that are prepared for the beginning of the constructions, even today in Burgas," Borisov said in the joint press conference at the end of the trilateral meeting of Craiova of the Romanian, Bulgarian and Serbian Prime Ministers.
According to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, the European Union is categorical, without conforming to the third energy package, no country of the European Union can afford to build a pipeline.
"We have nothing against Russia, we have nothing against the project, but there is a requirement: to observe what was proposed in Brussels, and I am positive that each state of the European Union will be forced to observe that third package, as being a EU member isn't just a privilege, doesn't only mean using European funds, it also means discipline, it means observing certain rules. Therefore I hope that, before anything, as soon as possible by diplomatic means, we solve the problems among Ukraine, Russia and the European Union, all sanctions drop, and we return to the negotiation table, because, you very well know, the shortest way goes through Bulgaria," Bulgaria's Prime Minister also said.
Borisov also said that, separately, he is a militant for the Nabucco project, which doesn't cause any inconvenience to the South Stream project, but on the contrary, Nabucco is a priority to the European Union. "Unfortunately, something has suddenly happened: no one talks about that project anymore, I hope that I also get a very concrete answer as soon as possible, because it is a very suitable place for where the gas should come from, from Azerbaijan, and after the meeting in Lausanne, between Iran, the US, those flows must come from the south, enter through Bulgaria and go to Hungary and Austria. Separately, to enter Romania and Greece," Borisov also said.
According to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, concerning Serbia, the interconnection is very actively being worked on, with Romania, too, however the political situation "with sanctions and counter-sanctions influences very much making some opportune decisions." "I am optimistic that after the problems are solved on a diplomatic path we shall have more concrete discussions. If someone thinks that he can skip the European rules, I can tell any colleague of mine by now that Brussels is very strict in this concern," the Bulgarian Prime Minister also said.