Russia is ready to implement a
project for building a gas pipeline under the Black Sea similar to the South
Stream project if the European Commission shows interest, presidential
spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
"Such projects are being worked
out, discussed with potential partners, but then again in the end everything
will depend on how predictable and constructive is the European Commission’s
behavior," Peskov said. "Naturally, nobody can impose such
projects," he said.
"Russia intends to do
it if there is interest. This has been confirmed by the Russian side on
numerous occasions," he recalled.
"Of course, long-term pipe
contracts are still out of competition in terms of reliability, so the Russian
side, Gazprom continue to work in this direction," Peskov said. He
recalled that recently Gazprom Head Alexei Miller visited Italy, where a
memorandum on the project under the Black Sea was signed, "to supply gas
to Greece and Italy."
Peskov said that currently,
"there is no project… similar to the South Stream." "It was
abandoned after the European Commission has taken the respective
position," Peskov recalled. "Not the Russian side initiated
terminating the project," he noted.
At the same time, according to
Peskov, Gazprom has already showed interest and was very actively engaged in
the implementation of this project. "The decision of the European
Commission is quite surprising, and we have heard the position voiced by the Bulgarian
authorities," he said.
(
ITAR-TASS)