Russia, Bulgaria, EU to discuss Balkan gas hub project by Dec

MOSCOW, Sep 20 (PRIME) -- Representatives of Russia, Bulgaria and the European Commission plan to meet by the end of November to discuss a project to build the Balkan gas hub, Bulgaria’s Mediapool reported Tuesday citing Tomislav Donchev, deputy prime minister for economic issues.

The sides plan to discuss legal issues of Russian gas supplies through the Black Sea to a gas distribution center that is expected to be built near Bulgaria’s Varna.

“I completely agree with Russia’s estimates that South Stream is not possible. What we plan to do is to hold a trilateral meeting, with the European Commission inviting Bulgaria and Russia to discuss legal scenarios over gas supplies through the Black Sea. Technical scenarios have never been a problem. This meeting should take place by the end of November, but it depends on other sides as well,” Donchev said.

Bulgarian state company Bulgartransgaz Executive Director Georgi Gegov said the gas hub project was discussed earlier in September at a meeting of the Russian–Bulgarian intergovernmental commission for economic and scientific and technical cooperation. Representatives of Russian gas giant Gazprom expressed interest in the project, but require legal guarantees from the European Commission so that this project does not have such a scenario like the South Stream one, Gegov said.

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