Serbian, Bulgarian FMs: South Stream of vital importance

Serbian, Bulgarian FMs: South Stream of vital importance

BELGRADE -- Ivica Dačić and Kristian Vigenin have said that the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline is of vital importance for their countries.

The Serbian and Bulgarian foreign ministers were meeting in Belgrade on Thursday when Dačić underscored that this was "primarily the issue of energy security and stability, and not relations with Russia."

“We have a common stand and shared interest, vital interest that South Stream be built, and that we arrive at the best possible solution through talks with the European Commission,” Dačić said at a joint press conference with his Bulgarian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia.

Dačić underlined that the South Stream construction is in the interest of both countries because of energy security and stability, and pointed to the importance of having various sources and gas routes so as to avoid the situation in which, as he noted, Serbia and Bulgaria found themselves in several years ago, during the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

This project represents a crucial economic interest for Serbia, Bulgaria and all countries through which the gas pipeline will run, and this issue should not be boiled down to relations between Russia, the Balkans and the EU, Dačić said.

The costs of the South Stream construction across Serbia have been estimated at around EUR 2 billion, but at the moment Serbia would invest practically nothing in the works, and the long-term loan would be paid out thanks to tax revenues which should amount to several hundred million euros per year, depending on the quantity of gas, he noted.

“Serbia would lose a lot, if there were no South Stream, ”...