From meeting with Turkey PM
"Given we don't have permission from Bulgaria/EU, Russia cannot continue with the project."
Synapsid wrote:dissident,
How long do you estimate this decision has been pending? It makes great sense in regard to trade between Russia and Turkey.
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine landed a 150 million euro ($187 million) loan on Monday to modernize its section of the pipeline used to deliver natural gas from Russia to Europe.
In a separate development, Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day announced that Moscow would stop pursuing construction of a Black Sea gas pipeline widely viewed as an attempt to circumvent Ukraine.
Speaking after a loan signature ceremony in Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said optimization of his country's gas pipelines would lower the cost of transporting the fuel by 20 percent.
The loan is being provided to state-owned pipeline operator Ukrtransgaz by the EU's lender, the European Investment Bank.
Yatsenyuk says refurbishment of Ukraine's section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline will boost energy efficiency and reduce harmful emissions.
Almost 120 kilometers of pipelines will be replaced and two compressor stations modernized under the project. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is expected to contribute another $200 million in loans for the same planned four-year reconstruction effort.
Yatsenyuk said he hopes a Ukrainian company will carry out the project, which he said could boost the economy.
The pipeline system has the capacity to supply Europe with 142.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
Russia has for years been pursuing pipeline projects intended to reduce its reliance on transit through Ukraine. Commercial and political disputes have led to the suspension of gas supplies to Europe in the past.
One is Nord Stream, a recently completed pipeline under the Baltic Sea, directly linking Germany with Siberia's vast natural gas reserves with a capacity to transit 55 billion cubic meters annually.
Moscow has lobbied hard to also build South Stream, which would have seen gas transported from Russia through the Black Sea to Bulgaria and other European countries, bypassing Ukraine.
Yatsenyuk said recent elections in Bulgaria and Moldova had signaled a turn away from a pro-Russian line and, accordingly, initiatives like South Stream.
"I hope Ukraine will not be bypassed by South Stream," he said Monday. "South Stream is a Russian political project."......
http://www.startribune.com/world/284300521.html
......."Taking account of the fact that until now we have not received permission from Bulgaria, we believe that in the current conditions Russia cannot continue with the realisation of this project," said Mr Putin, speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
"If Europe does not want to carry out (South Stream), then it will not be carried out, We are now going to focus our energy resources in other directions."
Mr Putin said Russia could build a gas hub on the Turkish-Greek border to supply Europe with gas to compensate for the loss of South Stream......
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30283571
Russia's energy minister said he was unaware of any pre-payment from Ukraine for gas supplies on Monday, the day the deadline was expiring for Kiev to pay for December supplies "…We have no information that the pre-payment funds for the December supplies have arrived," Alexander Novak told reporters. "Despite claims from the Ukrainian side that there is a desire to pay for 1 billion cubic metres (bcm), we have not received these funds yet." Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said last week Kiev might make a pre-payment to Russia for gas before Dec. 1, reiterating that the country expected to buy up to 1.5 billion (bcm) of gas from Russia by the end of the year.
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