Bulgarian PM: No final decision on Burgas-Alexandrupolis pipe

MOSCOW, June 14 (Prime-Tass) -- The Bulgarian government has not yet made a final decision on the construction of the Burgas-Alexandrupolis oil pipeline, in which Russian companies Transneft, Gazpom Neft, and Rosneft are expected to take part, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov told ITAR-TASS Friday.

A final decision will be made once an assessment of the project’s environmental impact is completed, Borisov said, clarifying his earlier statements made at a meeting with European Union ambassadors.

Earlier Friday, Borisov said that his government had rejected the project to build the Burgas–Alexandrupolis pipeline and suspended construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, which is to be built by a Russian contractor, Sofia News Agency reported.

The Burgas-Alexandrupolis project is “unprofitable and harmful for the country”, Borisov had been quoted as saying.

Bulgaria is suspending the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant because it is continuing a search for a strategic foreign investor, Borisov said, the news agency reported.

The Burgas-Alexandrupolis oil pipeline would transport Russian oil from the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea to the Greek port of Alexandrupolis. Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft and oil majors Gazprom Neft and Rosneft jointly hold 51% in the project.

In October 2006, Bulgaria selected Russian nuclear power engineering company Atomstroyexport at a tender to build two units at the Belene power plant. Atomstroyexport signed a contract to build the units in January 2008. End