Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir
Putin, has called upon his Bulgarian counterpart, Boyko Borisov, to
make a decision on the realization of the joint energy projects as soon
as possible.
Putin and Borisov met Tuesday night in Poland's city of Gdansk after
the remembrance ceremonies for the 70th year since the start of World
War II. The main topic of the first meeting of the two black-belt Prime
Ministers was the future of the three joint energy projects - the
Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, the South Stream gas transit
pipeline, and the Belene Nuclear Power Plant.
The Russian Prime Minister told his Bulgarian counterpart that
Russia would understand if for some reason Bulgaria decided to give up
one of the projects, RIA Novosti reported.
"If for some reason your government discovers that some of the
projects is not in Bulgaria's interest, this will not cause any
problems in our relations. We are going to discuss the projects that we
are going to launch. We will find other projects for cooperation. The
only thing that we are asking for is to have your answer as soon as
possible," Putin declared.
He cited as an example the Burgas-Alexandroupolis Oil Pipeline and
the fact that the discussions for its construction had already dragged
for seven years.
Putin also assured Borisov that Russia was ready to provide the
Bulgarian government with all the necessary information on the three
energy projects. He pointed out that the projects in question were
aimed at boosting Bulgaria's geopolitical status, and at creating new
jobs in the country.
"We were unable to follow the course of the negotiations and did
know the content of the agreements. This is probably why now we may
have differences," Borisov said referring to the fact that the actual
contracts for the three energy projects are not open to the public.
Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, made it clear he saw no
issue with the realization of the South Stream gas transit pipeline, a
Russian-sponsored rival to EU's project Nabucco, as cited by Interfax.
"There are no problems with us about South Stream," he said.
However, Borisov also told Putin the planned construction of the
Belene Nuclear Power Plant was the greatest matter of concern in
Bulgaria.
Regarding the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline the Bulgarian
Prime Minister said it was fairly complicated because of environmental
issues.
Borisov said that his government would likely become familiar with
all documents on the three Russian-sponsored energy projects within one
month. He thanked the Russian side for its readiness to send experts to
Bulgaria, who would explain details of the bilateral agreements.
Bulgaria and Russia signed the agreements for the three
above-mentioned energy projects in January 2008 during the visit of the
then Russian President Putin to Sofia.
The projects have been supported
ardently by Bulgaria's Socialist President, Georgi Parvanov, and the
former Prime Minister, Socialist Sergey Stanishev. Upon assuming office
in July 2009, the GERB government of Boyko Borisov declared it would
review all existing agreements and then make decisions on whether to go
ahead with the projects.