Following Bulgaria, Serbia has halted work on the South Stream gas pipeline, Deputy Prime Minister of Transport Zorana Mihailovic said on Monday.
Serbia didn’t cite political reasons, but rather said that they can’t complete their part of the project while their is a delay in Bulgaria. “Bulgaria is a node, so until the talks between Bulgaria and the EU and Russia and the EU are over, we are on hold as well, or until Russia changes the route. But in any case, the result of either scenario is a delay in the work in our country,” she told the daily Blic.
Bulgaria unexpectedly ordered work on South Stream to be suspended on Sunday after holding talks with US Senators, and EU authorities ordered a freeze on the project. Gazprom broke ground on the Serbian section of the South Stream pipeline project early in 2013, and was slated to be complete within two years. Serbia imports about 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, most of which comes from Russia via Hungary and Ukraine. Further details on the matter could be expected today as Russia and the EU meet in Brussels to discuss Ukraine’s energy debts. On June 13, representatives of the European Commission will visit Bulgaria to discuss problems related to the South Stream project.
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