Bulgaria Halts Construction of South Stream Pipeline

Facing increasing criticism from European Union, Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski has ordered to a halt to the construction of the Bulgarian section of South Stream Gas Pipeline.

"I have ordered all work to be stopped. We will decide on further developments following consultations with Brussels," Mr. Oresharski said after a meeting with U.S. senators, quoted by Agence France Presse.

South Stream Pipeline project strongly backed by Gazprom, Russia's state-owned natural gas exporter. The pipeline project has planned to by-pass Ukraine for European gas delivery, as a back-up route for shipment.

Last Tuesday, European Commission asked Bulgaria to suspend its work on the pipeline, amid suspicions that contracts for the project have been awarded in violation of the bloc's laws.

The 2,380-kilometre pipeline will be operational at late 2015, through the first of the four parallel lines of 15.75 Bcm/year capacity each. Gazprom expects to build the second and third lines by the end of 2016. A fourth line is scheduled to follow by the end of 2017.

The pipeline will travel under the Black Sea and through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia before delivering supplies to Italy, Greece and Austria.

Gazprom estimates that the 925 kilometer subsea section will cost 10 billion euros at 2010 prices.