Russia gives up his multi-billion dollar plans for the construction of the gas pipeline South Stream to supply Europe. “That’s it. The project is closed,” said Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller on Monday, referring to a “blockade in the EU”. The South Stream pipeline should lead Russian gas across the Black Sea to South East Europe, without touching the Ukraine.
Shortly before already Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin had said, a continuation of the construction would be meaningless. “Because of the lack of approval of Bulgaria have further work on the project no sense,” Putin said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax during his visit to Ankara. Bulgaria blocking the construction work on the seabed, the necessary permission from Sofia always lies not yet available.
“If Bulgaria is unable to behave as a sovereign state, it is by the European Commission the money for claim the advantage is not obtained, “Putin said. Only from the transit of Russian gas could Bulgaria take “at least 400 million euros a year.”
Turkey wants to expand trade with Russia
Putin is currently on State visit to Ankara and was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey wants to triple its trade with Russia within the next ten years to 100 billion US dollars, Erdogan said after the meeting.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Turkey, the EU and US sanctions against Russia not to undermine due to the Ukraine. Turkey is one of NATO and negotiated with the EU accession.
In light of the Ukraine crisis, the South Stream pipeline project for competitive bargaining chip between Moscow and the EU has become. After considerable pressure from Brussels and Washington as a transit country, Bulgaria had exposed the preparatory work on the project in June.
Putin accused the EU before they give the green light for South Stream. “We see that barriers to be erected,” he said in Ankara. If Europe does not want to run the project, it will not planar. . “We are convinced that this contradicts the European economic interests and damage caused,” Putin said
“The Russian energy resources then go to other markets – Europe will not get those sizes in any case,” said Putin on. “Russia can not invest hundreds of millions of dollars and then stuck on the Bulgarian border.”
More gas for Ankara
Putin announced during his visit to Ankara also to, in Turkey to three billion cubic meters of gas exports increase and the price to be reduced by six percent. Gazprom CEO Miller said Russia and Turkey have already signed a memorandum for the construction of an offshore pipeline of 63 trillion cubic meters of gas. According to Russian sources that Turkey is Germany’s largest consumer of natural gas.
Russia had recently been a far-reaching partnership agreement with the energy-hungry China.
Formally, for a halt to a decision of the Supervisory Board of the South Stream consortium needed. However, there has Russia as majority owner, the weightiest word.
The South Stream project was launched in 2012 to life. The 2,400-kilometer pipeline to be built under the leadership of the Russian energy giant Gazprom and transport annually up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas across the Black Sea to the EU. The project volume is estimated at about 16 billion euros.
bea / dk (dpa, afp, reuters)
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