Moscow Times: Minister Seeks Exemption From EU Energy Package for South Stream

Gazprom's $12.7 billion South Stream gas pipeline should be exempted from the European Union's third energy package, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday.

An updated Russian proposal arguing that the functioning Nord Stream pipeline and the planned South Stream pipeline should receive special treatment because they straddle both EU and non-EU countries will be submitted during the Russia-EU Summit in Brussels next week.

The European Union's third energy package seeks to liberalize the 
continent's gas market by splitting companies' production and retail 
operations from their transmission networks. 


"The status of projects like South Stream and Nord Stream is completely 
different from the status of pipeline projects within 
Europe," Novak told reporters.


The South Stream will run through countries including Russia and Serbia 
that are not members of the European Union, he added. 
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