Nabucco pipeline

Turkey has agreed with Azerbaijan to accelerate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), with an aim to have the gas project completed before the planned 2018, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said on Dec. 3, as quoted by Reuters.

Russia has suspended talks with Turkey over the Turkish Stream pipeline and the Akkuyu nuclear plant amid rising tensions between Ankara and Moscow over the downing of a Turkish plane.

This comes after Russia introduced sanctions against Turkey over the weekend.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said on Sunday Sofia is not intending to take action against the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project.

On the sidelines of an EU-Turkey summit in Brussels, he commented on last week's reports by Reuters that Sofia would be one of the signatories to a letter calling on the EU Commission to scrutinize the project.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Nov. 25 that Russia may consider cancelling some important joint projects with Turkey after the downing of the Russian jet by Turkish F-16s near the Syrian border on Nov. 24, raising questions about the future of the countries' intimate economic and trade relations. 

Russia doesn't consider the construction in Bulgaria of a gas hub or a branch of the planned Turkish Stream pipeline, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said.

"This is not being discussed," Russia news agency TASS quoted Novak as telling reporters on Friday.

Sofia and Bratislava will push for Nord Stream II and South Stream gas pipeline projects to be put on an equal footing by the EU Commission, Bulgarian Deputy PM Meglena Kuneva has said.

The Bulgarian National Radio quotes her as saying an EU Summit scheduled for December is have gas pipeline projects as part of its agenda.

Plans for a new gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey remain intact despite "difficulties", the Kremlin said on Sept.23, days after Ankara said talks on the deal were frozen.

Bulgaria is among those poised to score the biggest gain from the European Energy Union in terms of energy security, improved connectedness with neighbor countries, and energy diversification, according to Maros Sefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission, in charge of Energy Union.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Monday said Serbia will try to expand the capacity of Banatski Dvor, its only gas storage, from 450 million to one billion cubic meters, to increase energy security.

Greece, Hungary, Macedonia and Serbia may sign a memorandum on the construction of a gas pipeline from Turkey to Austria in the autumn, Vedomosti reported on Wednesday, citing a participant in the project