MOSCOW, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state
pipeline operator Transneft has reached an agreement with the
Bulgarian authorities on the proposed route of the
Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, the company said in a
statement on Wednesday.
A Transneft delegation, led by Nikolai Tokarev, the head
of Russia's oil pipeline monopoly, visited Bulgaria to discuss
alternative pipeline routes. The delegation visited the
country's parliament and met with Bulgarian Prime Minister
Sergei Stanishev, Regional Development Minister Arsen
Gagaouzov.
"Representatives from the Russian delegation came to a
mutual understanding with everyone they met," said Alexander
Tarakanov, the director general of Trans-Balkan Pipeline B.V.,
the company responsible for the pipeline construction.
Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece signed a memorandum on the
Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline in April 2005. Once
completed, the pipeline will pump 35 million metric tons of oil
a year (257.25 million bbl), a volume that could eventually be
increased to 50 million metric tons (367.5 million bbl).
Under an inter-governmental agreement signed in 2007,
Russia holds 51% in the project company, while Greece and
Bulgaria hold 24.5% each.
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