The European Union has reacted to Russia’s statement about suspension of South Stream gas pipeline construction, because of Bulgaria’s position. The European source told Interfax that this is an attempt to justify refusal of economically unprofitable project, because of reduction of hydrocarbon prices.
The same source said that construction of the South Stream requires a lot of money. “When the oil and gas prices are going down, construction of South Stream project becomes economically unprofitable,” he said.
“The project would have cost Gasprom a lot of money and now it can blame small Bulgaria for disruption of the project,” he added.
The same source added that “EU has never said that it does not like South Stream project.”
“We have just said that if the company wants to do business in the EU, it must observe the EU legislation, which is the Third Energy Package. If the European company would like to work in Russia, it must observe Russian legislation as well,” he explained.
Asked if the refusal to build the South Stream gas pipeline threatened Europe’s energy safety, the same source said “we have no problems with gas resources.”
