Board of directors of South Stream Bulgaria reshuffled

The three Bulgarian representatives on the board of directors of South Stream Bulgaria have been replaced.

According to reports of business daily Capital Daily, the move is part of a series of board reshuffles at state-owned energy companies.

The decision was taken at a general meeting of shareholders on Monday.

As a result of the changes, South Stream Bulgaria CEO Georgi Gegov is replaced by Iliya Ivanov, former member of the Board of Directors of state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz.

Mihail Andonov, former CEO of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) is replaced by Boyan Boev, while Yordan Zhelev, financial expert at BEH, replaces Boris Todorov who is also member of the Board of Directors of Bulgargaz.

Capital Daily reminds that Bulgaria's current socialist-led coalition government fast-tracked the implementation of the South Stream gas pipeline project.

In end-August, the Senior Environmental Expert Council at the Ministry of Environment and Water unanimously approved a 5000-page report on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the gas pipeline project.

During a visit to Sofia in early July 2013, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Bulgarian journalists that the schedule for the start of the construction works on the South Stream pipeline would be observed, despite implementation delays.

His visit, however, did not make it clear how the joint project company would be financed and how the EU regulatory obstacles to the agreement between Bulgaria and Russia would be overcome.

The governing bodies of the Maritsa Iztok 2 thermal power plant and the Maritsa Iztok Mines, as well as the directors of BEH, have been changed since June, meaning that only state-owned gas companies Bulgartransgaz and Bulgargaz were not affected by the management reshuffle.

Adapted from Novinite