$600 Million. That’s how much Bulgaria just lost from the South Stream cancellation…

Former Bulgarian Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov has estimated Bulgaria’s losses from the suspension of the South Stream gas pipeline will be around $600 million…or according to Russian President Putin, €400 million in lost annual transit fees (depending oh how you slice it up).

Putin had this to add about Bulgaria’s flip flopping on the whole South Stream project…

• Bulgaria “isn’t acting like an independent state,” by delayin South Stream, which would be profitable for the country.
• Bulgarian leadership should “demand loss of profit damages from the European Commission” as the country could have been receiving around 400 million euros annually through gas transit.

Via Novinite News Agency in Sofia…

In a Tuesday interview for the morning broadcast of Nova TV, Ovcharov noted that annual gas transit of 63 billion cubic meters would be redirected from Bulgaria to Turkey as a result of the decision of Russia to drop the South Stream gas pipeline project.

He emphasized that Bulgaria would not only lose money but also suffer geostrategic and political losses.

Ovcharov, Energy Minister in the socialist-led three-way coalition government (2005-2007), argued that it was a matter of time until Bulgaria was deprived of the current gas transit quantities, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.

“The government of Boyko Borisov will go down in history as the one which destroyed three large-scale infrastructure projects which could have helped Bulgaria emerge from the economic crisis,” he insisted, adding that Bulgaria would have been an entirely different country as a result of the implementation of these projects.

Welcome to Europe!

Meanwhile Nord Stream operates securely to the North Europe countries, supplying their citizens with cheap and reliable gas from Russia.

References:

http://www.novinite.com/