Électricité de France

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson has assured the country stands ready to carry through the construction of a gas pipeline to Europe going under the Black Sea.

He has pointed out such a project can be put into practice as long as the European Commission is interested.

There are good prospects for renewal of negotiations on the South Stream gas pipeline project, Russian permanent envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov has announced.

TASS news agency quotes him as saying in a video conference call from Brussels, that, "in light of the need for Russian gas in the EU, there are such opportunities."

Bulgaria is holding no talks for the restart of the abandoned South Stream gas pipeline project, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said, dismissing a Russian media report that the Bulgarian authorities were pushing hard for new negotiations.

Russian energy giant Gazprom on Wednesday hammered the final nail in to the coffin of the South Stream pipeline, a once ambitious project designed to connect Russia with Central and Southeast Europe, saying that the agreement on the South Stream gas pipeline project had been terminated.

Gazprom announced on Wednesday that the agreement on the planned South Stream natural gas pipeline has been terminated.

The board of directors of the company approved the agreements concluded by Gazprom and South Stream B.V. on termination of the contract of suretyship regarding obligations of Gazprom Export on the gas transportation agreement from 2 October 2013.

Bulgaria will discuss with Russia the potential construction of a gas distribution center on Bulgarian territory in compliance with the European Union legislation later this month, the government in Sofia said on Wednesday.

Dusan Bajatovic has said that the money Serbia invested in the joint project South Stream "will not be returned."

The director of the state-owned natural gas enterprise Srbijagas also said that the South Stream pipeline project was "dead, and as such will not be built" - but added he believes Serbia will, sooner or later, start receiving gas from Russia "via a new route."

The Kremlin has dismissed a Bulgarian media report of a possible resumption of talks over the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline in the coming weeks.

"Such a project doesn't exist at present. It has been terminated. Therefore, there is no subject for negotiations," the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax.ru on Tuesday.

Russia is set to continue with the South Stream pipeline project in a matter of few weeks, a Bulgarian mass circulation daily has reported.

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov is quoted by Standart as telling the news to people from "his closest circle" and adding exalted: "Now everybody will see whether Erdogan is good and Boyko is bad!"

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told journalists he was perplexed to witness the "gutless" position of the Bulgarian government which in his words "ignored national interest".