Russia and Bulgaria will set up a joint venture to develop a feasibility study of the Bulgarian part of the South Stream pipeline by November 15, the Russian government said on Thursday following a telephone conversation between Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
"The government heads exchanged opinions on the implementation of the Intergovernmental Russian-Bulgarian agreement on the South Stream project concluded in January 2008. In this context, Putin and Borisov agreed that a Russian-Bulgarian joint venture to develop a feasibility study for the Bulgarian section of the pipeline will be created before November 15 of this year," the government said in a statement on its official website.
The South Stream is seen as rival to the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline, which is supposed to transport Caspian natural gas to Austria. Nabucco enjoys EU support as a strategic contribution to the Southern Gas Corridor and Europe's energy security to ease Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti)
