Former Bulgarian prime minister Sergey Stanishev criticized the current cabinet led by Boyko Borisov for giving up plans to build the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, Bulgarian news agency Novinite.com reported.
Burgas-Alexandroupolis is a project between Russia, Greece and Bulgaria to pump Russian and Caspian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis. The three countries signed an agreement to build the 280-km (174 mile) Trans-Balkan pipeline in 2007, following several years of talks.
But Borisov, whose center-right cabinet replaced Stanishev's Socialists following last summer's elections, has repeatedly said Bulgaria wants to give up the Stanishev-backed project.
Bulgaria has said it may withdraw from the project because of environmental concerns and doubts about the project's profitability. The country has not invested in the project since the summer of 2009.
"We must seek the best environmental guarantees for the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline but I really doubt that environmental safety is the real motive of the Borisov cabinet for stalling the project," Novinite.com quoted Stanishev as saying.
Stanishev also expressed concern that Russia is accelerating its work with Turkey on the construction of the alternative Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline because it sees that the Bulgarian government is unwilling to go ahead with the Burgas-Alexandroupolis project.
ATHENS, July 28 (RIA Novosti)
