MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. Russia is ready to implement a project for building a gas pipeline under the Black Sea similar to the South Stream project if the European Commission shows interest, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
"Such projects are being worked out, discussed with potential partners, but then again in the end everything will depend on how predictable and constructive is the European Commission’s behavior," Peskov said. "Naturally, nobody can impose such projects," he said.
"Russia intends to do it if there is interest. This has been confirmed by the Russian side on numerous occasions," he recalled.
"Of course, long-term pipe contracts are still out of competition in terms of reliability, so the Russian side, Gazprom continue to work in this direction," Peskov said. He recalled that recently Gazprom Head Alexei Miller visited Italy, where a memorandum on the project under the Black Sea was signed, "to supply gas to Greece and Italy."
Peskov said that currently, "there is no project… similar to the South Stream." "It was abandoned after the European Commission has taken the respective position," Peskov recalled. "Not the Russian side initiated terminating the project," he noted.
At the same time, according to Peskov, Gazprom has already showed interest and was very actively engaged in the implementation of this project. "The decision of the European Commission is quite surprising, and we have heard the position voiced by the Bulgarian authorities," he said.
