Électricité de France

Russian President Putin said on Thursday his country didn't feel offended about Bulgaria and other countries' decision not to carry through the South Stream gas pipeline project due to their lack of "manliness".

Russia's Gazprom said on Dec. 8 it had signed a contract with Switzerland's Allseas Group S.A. to build the first stage of the Turkish Stream pipeline, as reported by Reuters. 

Gazprom said this week work on the underwater section of the Turkish Stream pipeline would get underway in the second half of next year.

The deadline for binding offers for the use of the natural gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Greece has been extended by a month to the end of November due to requests from bidders, the joint venture that runs the project said on Monday.

France and China will set up a fund for joint investment in overseas projects, France's foreign minister said on Oct. 31, as China's voracious appetite for overseas acquisitions continues to grow despite some recent stumbles in overseas markets. 

Greece's power utility PPC confirmed on Sunday it had received two binding bids for a 24 percent stake in the country's power grid operator ADMIE.

The terms of Greece's international bailout require that PPC, which is 51 percent state-owned, either sell its stake in ADMIE or fully privatize the grid by next year.

French grid operator RTE, a unit of state-owned utility EDF, says it is considering a bid for Greek grid operator ADMIE and would be ready to play a role in consolidating Europe's power networks if European Union regulations allow this.

French energy giant EDF Group is "very interested" in the Turkish market and getting involved in hydro energy projects, as well as further developing its activities in renewables, said Simone Rossi, the group's senior executive vice president in charge of the international division. 

The pipes laid within the framework of the South Stream project for the construction of the gas pipeline on the bottom of the Black Sea are in good condition and can be used for the implementation of the Turkish Stream project, announced the Deputy Director for Gas Pipeline Exploitation of Gazprom Sergey Aliev, reported RIA Novosti.

There are Italian companies showing interest in the construction of both Nord Stream-2 and Turkish Stream, Russia's Deputy PM Arkadiy Dvorkovich has said.

"This is no secret, the company Saipem is taking part in the respective procedures carried out by Gazprom on Nord Stream and Turkish Stream," TASS quotes him as saying.

Gazprom has said it received through diplomatic channels a survey permit for two strings of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project's offshore section in Turkish territorial waters, in a written statement on Sept. 29.