EC annoucnes action against Bulgaria over South Stream agreement
Construction on the South Stream pipeline began in 2012.
EC President Jose Manuel Barroso has told Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski that the EC plans to take action against Bulgaria for non-compliance with the EU legislation on the South Stream Gas Pipeline, the Bulgarian news agency Novitne reported May 28.
“We have to guarantee that internal market provisions are observed because we believe that in this case we are exposing the energy security of Bulgaria and the EU to risk,” Barroso said, as cited by the news agency.
Barroso also stated that the EC has been following the situation in Bulgaria for months and added that the agreements Bulgaria had signed concerning the South Stream project ran contrary to EU rules. He also underscored that the EC would take necessary steps to remedy the situation.
According to Barroso, it is essential for the EU to be united on the matter of energy security.
Barroso’s statement is a response to Bulgaria’s controversial amendments to the status of South Stream, which are allegedly not in line with EU laws.
Additionally, on May 27 local media reported that consortium led by the Russian firm Stroytransgaz, controlled by a Russian oligarch, Gennady Timchenko, who was placed on the US sanctions list in mid-March, has won the tender for construction of the Bulgarian stretch of the South Stream Gas Pipeline.
Gennady Timchenko is believed to be the sixth richest man in Russia. He is also believed to have close ties to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
“Despite the European Commission’s recommendations for the renegotiation of the South Stream project, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller confirmed last month that the construction of the pipeline in Bulgaria and Serbia will begin in July,” the Bulgarian news agency Novitne wrote May 27.
