Energy in Slovenia

Italy's Deputy Minister for Economic Development Claudio de Vincenti has confirmed the priority status of the South Stream gas pipeline project.

From EurActiv

Bulgarian Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev met with the EU's Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger Thursday (24 April) to discuss the future of the Gazprom-sponsored South Stream gas pipeline. But the two sides offered a widely diverging interpretation of the exchange.

The suspension of the South Stream gas pipeline is not being discussed, according to Dominique Ristori, Director-General of Directorate-General Energy of the European Commission.

The construction of the Bulgarian part of the South Stream pipeline will start in May or June in Varna, said Igor Elkin, executive director of the company South Stream Bulgaria. 

Russia's energy concern Gazprom is to acquire half of the shares of its Berlin-based subsidiary, South Stream Transport.

Gazprom's board of directors agreed that a total of 205 900 shares will be sold by Gazprom Germania to the main company, RIA Novosti reported.

Russia’s Energy Minister Aleksander Novak revealed that the South Stream gas pipeline project is moving forward.

“Russia continues realizing the project in compliance with the intergovernmental agreements. The work cannot be suspended”, Novak said, quoted by ITAR-TASS.

Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev has vowed that Bulgaria will fight for the implementation of the South Stream gas pipeline project.

Stoynev told journalists Thursday that Bulgaria would comply with the decisions of the European Commission but it would seek a financial mechanism for the countries which would be negatively affected by the move.

Turkey would consider the possibility that the South Stream gas pipeline could pass through its territory if Russia makes a request, the country's Energy Minister said Wednesday.

Taner Yildiz announced that Turkey was "open to assessing any request for the line to pass" through its land, Hurriyet Daily News quoted him as saying.

The South Stream-Bulgaria company has assured that work on the local section of the gas pipeline project continues.

The comments of the South Stream-Bulgaria company, as cited by ITAR-TASS, came after the announcement of the European Parliament that the project should not be implemented.

The planned South Stream pipeline project is a display of the excellent relations the Kremlin has with the Bulgarian government, according to an article published in Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The decision taken by Bulgaria's government in March regarding the South Stream was astonishing, the author, Florian Hassel, argues.