The Vice President of the Serbia Government, Zorana Mihajlovic announces that Serbia will have to postpone the start of construction of South Stream gas pipeline. Mihajlovic said this after announcements of Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresarski, who announced that Bulgaria has suspended work on the project “South Stream”.
“Bulgaria is a hub, and therefore, until the negotiations between Bulgaria and Brussels be completed, and the European Union with Russia, we stand. Or, while Russia does not change its route. But certainly the result of both scenarios means delay of works in our country “, concludes Mihajlovic.
In fact, Bulgaria’s decision is a reaction to the request of the European Commission, which has accused Bulgaria of violating European rules when tendering for the “South Stream” constructionand giving privileges to Russian and Bulgarian companies. In addition, Brussels seeks the bilateral agreement for construction of “South Stream” to be complied with the standards of the Third Energy Package.
“The future of the project depends primarily on the agreement of the European Commission with the EU Member States and Russia.” South Stream “is important for us as a development and as an energy project, but it is clear that Serbia is one of the countries through which the pipeline should pass, and that at the same time, we are the only country in this project, apart from Russia, which is not an EU member”,explained Minister of Energy and Mining Aleksandar Antic.
Will it be made a formal decision on the termination of the work on the “South Stream” in Serbia, remains to be seen, and “we will continue to monitor the situation”, said Antic.
In “Srbijagas”, which is responsible for the project in Serbia, the negotiations on the “Gazprom”loan are underway.It is also plannedthe contractsigning with contractorsby the end of June. Activities in this project will not stop unless the government decides otherwise, said from “Srbijagas”.