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Bulgaria quits Burgas-Alexadroupolis oil pipeline project

Bulgaria’s withdrawal from the project is explained by impossibility to implement it under the conditions and financial parameters fixed in the agreement of 2007
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

SOFIA, December 7 (Itar-Tass) — Bulgaria quits the Burgas-Alexadroupolis oil pipeline construction project, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said on Wednesday.

“Bulgaria proposes to sign an agreement (on its withdrawal from the project) by mutual consent,” he said. “If such agreement is reached, Bulgaria will pull out from it at its own expense after the expiration of 12 months. Bulgaria’s withdrawal from the project is explained by impossibility to implement it under the conditions and financial parameters fixed in the agreement of 2007.”

Russia, Greece and Bulgaria signed an agreement on the construction of the Burgas-Alexadroupolis oil pipeline on March 15, 2007. The pipeline should have pumped Russian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis bypassing Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait.

The former government led by the Bulgarian Socialist Party announced that a 1 billion euro project is of strategic importance for the country and should become Europe’s major energy hub.

However, the current Cabinet led by Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov took a sceptic position emphasizing the project’s insufficient profitability for the country.