Russia unwilling to annul South Stream agreements

Russia is not willing to annul the agreements it has signed with six EU countries, including Bulgaria, on the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline.

Instead, Russia expects the European Commission to put forth proposals on the adaption of the inter-governmental agreements to the Third Energy Package, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov has said.

Chizhov reminded that the six EU countries had earlier authorised the European Commission to conduct negotiations with Russia on South Stream on their behalf.

“European Commissioner [Gunther Oettinger] will be in Moscow on January 17 to attend a meeting of the Russia-EU Permanent Partnership Council. He will most likely say something,” Chizhov said at a briefing hosted by the European Policy Centre, according to ITAR-TASS.

In December, the European Commission came out with a statement that bilateral agreements signed between Russia and countries like Bulgaria regarding the pipe are in violation of EU's Third Energy Package.

The package is a set of measures to liberalize the energy market, which includes the requirement that the infrastructure owner be different from the provider, and that different suppliers have access to the pipes.

Adapted from Novinite