The construction of the Burgas - Alexandroupolis pipeline was given a go-ahead. After 13 years of negotiations the trilateral agreement was signed yesterday in Athens by Assen Gagauzov, Bulgaria's Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, his Greek counterpart Dimitris Sioufas and Viktor Khristenko, Russia's Energy Minister. Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Prime Ministers Costas Karamanlis of Greece and Sergei Stanishev of Bulgaria attended the signing ceremony. Construction is scheduled to start in 2009. However, the agreement cannot guarantee that the project will be implemented mainly because it is uncertain whether Russia will be able to supply the necessary quantities of oil. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 35 million tons per year, which will be later expanded to 50 million tons per year. Bulgaria will charge a dollar per every ton of oil for transit. As Russia is struggling to expand its influence on the European energy market the necessary quantity needed for the operation of the pipeline will most likely be provided. However, the three Russian state-owned companies - Rosneft, Transneft and Gazpromneft are not capable of guaranteeing the supplies. The parties concerned are courting the American company Chevron that controls the biggest part of the Caspian oil fields. Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov had a meeting with representatives of the company during his recent visit to the USA.
The cost of the Burgas - Alexandroupolis project is estimated at one billion euro. The state-owned Russian firms will control 51% of the venture leaving Bulgaria and Greece with 24.5% each. Bulgaria's share is estimated at 300 million euro. The length of the pipe will be around 285 km, 155 km of which will pass through the Bulgarian territory.

Natalia Malcheva