Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has insisted
that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project will be costlier than the South
Stream project. In a Monday interview for the morning broadcast of the
Bulgarian National Television, Petkova argued that the Turkish Stream gas
pipeline had to cross an EU Member State.
Bulgaria’s Energy Minister questioned the economic feasibility of the Turkish Stream project.
She noted that Bulgaria had not yet received an official
answer from Russia as regards the future of the South Stream project in view of
the announcement of Vladimir Putin from December 2014 that Russia was
withdrawing from the scheme.
"It is too early to say that it is all over with South Stream,” Petkova stated.
She said that the project company continued to exist
because there was no official document confirming the suspension of the South
Stream gas pipeline project. As regards the implementation of gas grid
interconnector projects, she said that the construction of the pipeline to
Greece was to start in March 2016 and the final investment decision on the project
was to be taken on May 29.
Petkova informed that the Bulgaria-Romania gas grid interconnector was to be ready by end-2015 and that the Bulgaria-Turkey and Bulgaria-Serbia gas grid interconnector projects were also moving forward.
