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Lavrov on Monday began a two-day visit to Belgrade, where he will meet top officials and press Moscow’s case for the continuation of work on state company Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline, which will take gas from Russia through Serbia to western Europe.

The article is from Deutsche Welle

Bulgaria has yielded to pressure from Europe and indefinitely halted work on the Russian gasline project South Stream. But experts believe the decision may do more harm than good for the government in Sofia.

Bulgarian Economy Minister Dragomir Stoynev has said his government was being held responsible for actions of previous governments regarding the South Stream project.

Russian state-owned concern Gazprom maintains the South Stream gas pipeline project is being carried out on schedule, company officials were quoted as saying.

Bulgaria struck a financial agreement with Russia alongside a secret deal on the construction of South Stream, a Reformist Bloc representative said Friday.

Martin Dimitrov's comments come a day after other bloc members alleged that they had gained access to evidence of a "secret deal" with Gazprom on the South Stream project.

Bulgaria's Reformist Bloc (an alliance of democratic parties) says it has obtained evidence about a secret agreement between Bulgaria and Gazprom on the South Stream project.

The agreement is believed to have been signed three days after the May 25 European elections.

Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Mihail Mikov argued Prime Minister Oresharski had been misinterpreted when speaking about South Stream.

Mikov told the Bulgarian National Radio the construction of the pipeline had not been halted. He added that Plamen Oresharski could not have stopped the project, as he does not possess the competences to do so with a private company like South Stream.

Juergen Roth, one of Germany's most renowned publicists and investigative journalists, shared with Novinite his observations on Europe's approach to South Stream.

Serbia has also started sending mixed signals about the implementation of the South Stream gas pipeline on its territory just like Bulgaria.

Serbia has to postpone the South Stream gas pipeline construction works after Bulgaria's decision to suspend work on the project, according to Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister.

In an interview for Serbian newspaper Blic, Zorana Mihajlovic specified that Serbia was to wait for the conclusion of talks between Bulgaria, Russia and the European Commission.