Sofia reagiert gelassen auf Putins Schelte
2. Dezember 2014, 18:36
Verlust für Oligarchen, mit ihren Baufirmen wollten sie den Auftrag durchführen
In the long run the end for South Stream could only be good for the Bulgarian economy, said Daniel Smilow by the Centre for Liberal Strategies, a politically influential think tank in Sofia. Because Bulgaria is almost completely dependent on Russian gas supplies anyway, it could now take the opportunity to finally diversify its energy resources: "Bulgaria urgently needs interconnectors, LNG facilities, connections to the power grid of other European countries," Smilow told the STANDARD. (Mark Bernath, André Ballin, THE STANDARD, 03/12/2014)
Sofia/Ankara/Moskau - "Aus. Das Projekt ist beendet", zeigte sich Gazprom-Chef Alexej Miller kategorisch. Das Pipelineprojekt South Stream, das bisher unbeirrt vom Kreml vorangetrieben wurde, ist mit einem Mal vom Tisch. Nach russischer Darstellung sind dafür wahlweise Bulgarien oder die auf Sofia Druck ausübende EU-Kommission verantwortlich, weil diese den Pipelinebau verzögerten und hintertrieben.
In Moskau herrscht nun - den Kommentaren nach zu urteilen - eine Mischung aus Ärger und Schadenfreude: Er habe die Reaktionen "panischer Art" aus Europa nach dem verkündeten South-Stream-Ende registriert, sagte Vizeaußenminister Alexander Lukaschewitsch. Aber schließlich sei das nicht Moskaus Schuld. "Die Folgen hätten die eher bedenken sollen, die das Projekt im Prinzip begraben haben", fügte er hinzu.
Europa sei weiterhin von russischem Gas abhängig, erklärte derweil Waleri Jasew, Chef des Duma-Ausschusses für Natur und Rohstoffförderung. Nun müssten die Europäer ihr Gas eben über den Umweg aus der Türkei beziehen, glaubt er. Offizielle Angaben über die Kosten der neuen russisch-türkischen Pipeline (Kapazität 63 Milliarden Kubikmeter) gibt es nicht. Sie dürften aber Schätzungen nach im Bereich des bisherigen South-Stream-Teilstücks durch das Schwarze Meer liegen, die jüngst auf 14 Milliarden Euro angehoben wurden. Allein für die Türkei lohnt sich der Bau der Pipeline daher nicht.
Bulgarien unbeeindruckt
Der Buhmann zeigt sich unbeeindruckt: Bulgariens Führung reagierte kühl auf die Vorhaltungen Putins, der das kleine EU-Balkanland für das Aus von South Stream verantwortlich gemacht hatte. Das Pipelineprojekt könne Wirklichkeit werden, wenn es in Übereinstimmung mit den EU-Gesetzen sei, sagte Staatspräsident Rossen Plewneliew. Einen "Bluff" nannte ein Energiepolitiker der neuen Koalitionsregierung Putins Ankündigung, nur dafür bestimmt, Bulgarien und die EU in das teure Projekt zu zwingen.
Noch stünde eine offizielle Bestätigung von Gasprom auch aus, merkten Minister in Sofia an. Putin hatte erklärt, das Projekt könne nicht mehr vorangehen, weil Bulgarien keine Genehmigung für den Bau des Unterwasserabschnitts der Pipeline gebe. Der Baubeginn war zuletzt für den 15. Dezember festgesetzt worden.
4000 Jobs hatte die frühere sozialistische Regierung den Bulgaren mit South Stream versprochen. Die mutmaßlich von Oligarchen gesteuerten Bauunternehmen, die eine erste Ausschreibung gewonnen hatten, wollten den Auftrag von insgesamt 3,8 Mrd. Euro unter sich aufteilen.
Auf lange Sicht könnte das Aus für South Stream nur gut für die bulgarische Wirtschaft sein, erklärte Daniel Smilow vom Zentrum für liberale Strategien, einem politisch einflussreichen Thinktank in Sofia. Weil Bulgarien ohnehin fast völlig abhängig von russischen Gaslieferungen sei, könnte es jetzt die Gelegenheit nutzen und endlich seine Energieressourcen weiter streuen: "Bulgarien braucht dringend Interkonnektoren, Flüssiggasanlagen, Verbindungen zum Energienetz anderer europäischer Länder", sagte Smilow dem STANDARD. (Markus Bernath, André Ballin, DER STANDARD, 3.12.2014)
http://europolitics.info/energy/sofia-unfazed-south-stream-halt
http://europolitics.info/energy/sofia-unfazed-south-stream-halt
Sofia unfazed by South Stream halt
The end of the project is an incentive for the long overdue energy diversification in Bulgaria, an expert argues
Anca Gurzu contributed to this article
Bulgaria's coalition government reacted coolly, on 2 December, to the cancellation of the South Stream gas pipeline project, which was announced by Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller the day before. Bulgaria's Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski said that the government should wait for an official statement from Moscow. His adviser, Vladimir Karolev, rejected as exaggerated Putin's claim that Bulgaria would lose €400 million per year in transit fees for its stretch of the apparently scrapped pipeline.
Bulgaria was to be the first EU member state crossed by South Stream after an offshore section crossing the Black Sea. Preparations for its construction were the most advanced there.
Energy specialist Martin Dimitrov - echoing the opinion of the economy minister of the governing pro-European coalition critical of Russia - dismissed the announcement as a "bluff". "This is a tactical move on the part of Vladimir Putin," he said, adding that the Russian leader's aim was to pressure Bulgaria and the EU into eventually accepting the controversial pipeline project.
In his harsh remarks, Putin singled out Bulgaria as the main obstacle to the construction of South Stream. Russia is frustrated that Sofia had given in to the European Commission's pressure and halted work on the ambitious - but highly controversial - pipeline. This made it "very complicated" for Gazprom to continue the project, an official close to the company said.
Business losses
Since November, Bulgaria has been governed by a centre-right coalition led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and supported by a nationalist party and a left-wing splinter group. Unlike the previous government led by the Socialists, who are traditionally close to Russia and who lobbied for South Stream, Borisov's cabinet has been critical of what it considers a flawed tender for the pipeline project as well as of Russia's interference in Ukraine. Not surprisingly, Rumen Ovcharov, a former Socialist energy minister known for his controversial business ties with Bulgarian and Russian energy companies, now accuses the government in Sofia of having deprived the country of US$600 million in revenues. The cancellation of the projects is "also a geostrategic loss for Bulgaria," he claimed.
Dragomir Stoynev, Bulgaria's former Socialist energy minister, said that the pipeline project would create 4,000 new jobs. For construction and energy companies in the EU's poorest country, South Stream would also have brought contracts to the tune of €3.8 billion. Although these claims are difficult to validate, those who now lose out will likely use them to buttress their arguments.
Putin has urged Bulgaria to seek compensation for lost revenues. This is likely to remain an open issue for at least a few days as the stakeholders are grappling with the announcement.
The European Commission, meanwhile, underlined the EU's commitment to the region and emphasised the need for solidarity. At the same time, its energy spokesperson also said, on 2 December, that "there is, legally speaking, no basis for compensation. Neither for this nor for any other project that has been halted".
"Construction companies will lose this business, but in the long run the end of South Stream might be a good thing for Bulgaria's economy," Daniel Smilov from the Centre for Liberal Strategies, an influential political think tank in Sofia, argues. Since the small Balkan country is almost completely dependent on gas deliveries from Russia, the scrapping of the Gazprom project should now push Bulgaria into diversifying its energy routes, Smilov told Europolitics. "Bulgaria urgently needs interconnectors, LNG facilities and links to the energy networks of other European countries," he said.
Painful for oligarchs
The cancellation of the project hit the country's oligarchs rather hard. Tsvetan Vasilev, CEO of the now insolvent bank KTB, was to be involved in the project, along with his former business partner and member of the national parliament Deljan Peevski, who is understood to be behind one of the five Bulgarian companies that had won the construction tender.
Bulgaria's coalition government reacted coolly, on 2 December, to the cancellation of the South Stream gas pipeline project, which was announced by Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller the day before. Bulgaria's Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski said that the government should wait for an official statement from Moscow. His adviser, Vladimir Karolev, rejected as exaggerated Putin's claim that Bulgaria would lose €400 million per year in transit fees for its stretch of the apparently scrapped pipeline.
Bulgaria was to be the first EU member state crossed by South Stream after an offshore section crossing the Black Sea. Preparations for its construction were the most advanced there.
Energy specialist Martin Dimitrov - echoing the opinion of the economy minister of the governing pro-European coalition critical of Russia - dismissed the announcement as a "bluff". "This is a tactical move on the part of Vladimir Putin," he said, adding that the Russian leader's aim was to pressure Bulgaria and the EU into eventually accepting the controversial pipeline project.
In his harsh remarks, Putin singled out Bulgaria as the main obstacle to the construction of South Stream. Russia is frustrated that Sofia had given in to the European Commission's pressure and halted work on the ambitious - but highly controversial - pipeline. This made it "very complicated" for Gazprom to continue the project, an official close to the company said.
Business losses
Since November, Bulgaria has been governed by a centre-right coalition led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and supported by a nationalist party and a left-wing splinter group. Unlike the previous government led by the Socialists, who are traditionally close to Russia and who lobbied for South Stream, Borisov's cabinet has been critical of what it considers a flawed tender for the pipeline project as well as of Russia's interference in Ukraine. Not surprisingly, Rumen Ovcharov, a former Socialist energy minister known for his controversial business ties with Bulgarian and Russian energy companies, now accuses the government in Sofia of having deprived the country of US$600 million in revenues. The cancellation of the projects is "also a geostrategic loss for Bulgaria," he claimed.
Dragomir Stoynev, Bulgaria's former Socialist energy minister, said that the pipeline project would create 4,000 new jobs. For construction and energy companies in the EU's poorest country, South Stream would also have brought contracts to the tune of €3.8 billion. Although these claims are difficult to validate, those who now lose out will likely use them to buttress their arguments.
Putin has urged Bulgaria to seek compensation for lost revenues. This is likely to remain an open issue for at least a few days as the stakeholders are grappling with the announcement.
The European Commission, meanwhile, underlined the EU's commitment to the region and emphasised the need for solidarity. At the same time, its energy spokesperson also said, on 2 December, that "there is, legally speaking, no basis for compensation. Neither for this nor for any other project that has been halted".
"Construction companies will lose this business, but in the long run the end of South Stream might be a good thing for Bulgaria's economy," Daniel Smilov from the Centre for Liberal Strategies, an influential political think tank in Sofia, argues. Since the small Balkan country is almost completely dependent on gas deliveries from Russia, the scrapping of the Gazprom project should now push Bulgaria into diversifying its energy routes, Smilov told Europolitics. "Bulgaria urgently needs interconnectors, LNG facilities and links to the energy networks of other European countries," he said.
Painful for oligarchs
The cancellation of the project hit the country's oligarchs rather hard. Tsvetan Vasilev, CEO of the now insolvent bank KTB, was to be involved in the project, along with his former business partner and member of the national parliament Deljan Peevski, who is understood to be behind one of the five Bulgarian companies that had won the construction tender.
Dr. Markus Bernath
DER STANDARD / Europolitics
Turkey & Greece correspondent
DER STANDARD / Europolitics
Turkey & Greece correspondent
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