South Stream doesn’t obey Bulgaria

Sofia couldn’t freeze the increase in investment into the project.

The first attempt of the temporary Government of Bulgaria to stop the construction of the South Stream has almost failed. The Government of Sofia couldn’t block the increase in the registered capital of the joint project company South Stream Bulgaria despite the presence of its representatives in the Board. According to analysts, the fate of South Stream will primarily depend on the negotiations between Russia and the EU on the background of the Ukraine’s gas problem.

The Government of Bulgaria in 1.5 months after the first official announcement of the freezing of the South Stream due to the claims of the European Commission tried to make real steps in this direction but failed. The Ministry of Energy of Bulgaria yesterday said that on August 7th the Minister V. Shtonov sent a letter to South Stream Bulgaria AD (project company of the Bulgarian site of the pipeline in which Gazprom and Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) hold 50% each) asking to stop all the work. Mr. Shtonov demanded also not to raise the registered capital of South Stream Bulgaria by 20 mln euro. These funds are necessary for the company for its current activity – the respective decision in late 2013 was approved by the former Minister of Energy, D. Stoinev. On August 11th the Minister sent the official notification of the project’s shutdown to South Stream Bulgaria, BEH and Gazprom.