Pressure and bargaining before the signing of “South Stream” –

/ world today news/ The contract between the Bulgarian Energy Holding and Gazprom for the South Stream project was signed today. Last week, at its meeting, the Council of Ministers approved the final investment decision for the construction of the gas pipeline on Bulgarian territory.

The investment will be worth more than 3.3 billion euros, which Bulgaria will pay for 15 years with the transit fees. The Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Dilyan Dobrev stated that with “South Stream” our country will have additional good revenues and new jobs will be created. Along with that, he added that “Bulgaria will fight for every cent in lowering the price of Russian gas; (it was reduced by 11 percent for the period from April 1 to December 31). Dobrev emphasized several times that “we will insist on even greater concessions from Gazprom”. The new contract for Russian gas supplies from January 1, 2013. to be for six years with an option to extend for another 4 years and with the lowest possible prices, insists the Bulgarian side hours before the signing of the contract scheduled for 11 o’clock. At a press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov explained that the insurance for the additional four years under the contract with “Gazprom” is in case the government’s forecasts for an increase in local natural gas production do not come true. “Is it so complicated to wait? It is a question of a lot of money that the Bulgarian economy has been paying so far, and we want to reduce the price as much as possible and we have to use all our levers for this. So help us for one day, don’t hinder us”. the prime minister told journalists.

However, according to the spokesman of the Russian gas giant, Sergey Kupriyanov, the concessions were agreed long ago, and currently Sofia and Moscow are only talking about “procedural issues”. Before leaving for Bulgaria, the head of “Gazprom” Alexey Miller commented to journalists in Moscow that all the necessary amendments to the contract for this year have been made and that the investment decision for “South Stream” cannot be tied to questions about the price of gas .

Cooperation between Russia and Bulgaria on South Stream has a long and controversial history. At the beginning of 2008, the two countries signed an agreement on the project disliked by the US. Since then, negotiations on the removal of all barriers, on ownership and investment, have continued with varying degrees of success to the present day. According to experts, the sea “road” of “South Stream” is extremely safe and extensive – over 900 km. pipes will run at a depth of 2250 m, in the sea. The entire “sea” investment is over 10 billion euros. The pipes are made in factories in Russia, Japan and Europe and will be laid on the bottom of special ships in four lines to go ashore not far from Varna. The pipeline will pass through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to reach Northern Italy. The first gas deliveries to Europe via it are expected at the beginning of 2016.

On December 7, the first sod of the gas pipeline will be laid on the Russian Black Sea coast, near the port city of Anapa. The world’s most powerful gas compressor station will also be built there. Not far from it, near the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik, the “Beregovaya” inlet compressor station of the first underwater gas pipeline in the Black Sea – “Blue Stream” – which leads to Turkey, operates. The “South Stream” for Bulgaria will enter the sea a hundred kilometers to the north – near Anapa. Bulgarian media reported at the beginning of the week that Putin had invited the leaders of the countries through which the pipeline will pass to Anapa to attend the groundbreaking of the project. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who was on a visit to Slovakia the same day, refused to comment on whether he would participate in the ceremony in Anapa. He told journalists that many of Bulgaria’s next steps will depend on the negotiations on the price of Russian gas from January 1. “Whether I will go to such a ceremony depends on the course of the upcoming Thursday signing of the new contract between Bulgargaz and Gazprom,” said Borisov.

The American private intelligence and analytical agency Stratfor (from the English Strategic Forecasting Inc.), based in Austin, Texas, wrote these days in connection with “South Stream” that “if Russia wants to meet the schedule for the completion of one of its key infrastructure projects for gas supplies to the European market, will have to offer limited discounts to Bulgaria”. “Stratfor” recalls that in August “Gazprom” agreed to make a price discount of 11 percent for gas imported into Bulgaria, which will be effective retroactively from April, if the country commits to signing up for “South Stream”. The elimination of intermediaries and the validity period of the new contract have already been agreed. But it is not yet known how much the blue fuel will cost at the entrance to Bulgaria. And so the bargaining continues until the last moment. They show the undisguised intervention of those who see “South Stream” as a threat to their interests. It is no coincidence that Bulgaria will be the last to agree to participate in the extremely important gas pipeline. The fact that yesterday the government granted “Direct Petroleum Bulgaria” a 35-year concession for extraction of natural gas and condensate from the “Koinare” field is significant. The concessionaire is owned by the Cypriot Transatlantic Petroleum Cyprus, a reference in the Commercial Register shows. This is actually a company from Texas, USA. The Texas company will also explore a section near Etropole. “By the end of next year, natural gas production in Bulgaria will increase to 25-30 percent of the country’s total consumption” (about 3 billion cubic meters), Minister Delyan Dobrev said recently and predicted that the Texas company would provide 30-40 percent cheaper than Russian gas. The comment is redundant.