Czech PM: South Stream Pipeline Will Hurt Ukraine

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says that the construction of the South Stream pipeline will hurt Ukraine in the long term, as gas transit fees provide a sizeable portion of Ukraine's budget revenues.

"If Europe is trying to help stabilise the Ukrainian economy ... we cannot on the one hand support loans to Ukraine and on the other support projects that will weaken the Ukrainian economy in the long run,"Sobotka commented to Reuters.

Sobotka also noted that the planned pipeline project does not address the problem of diversifying gas sources for Europe.