EU to conduct talks with Russia to re-conclude agreements on South Stream

The European Commission will conduct talks with Russia to re-conclude the intergovernmental agreements with 6 EU member-states on the South Stream, European Energy Commissar Gunter Hettinger said on December 12, 2013. 

European Commissar added that EU is not opposed to the South Stream. “We support the gas pipeline construction. But all the EU demands concerning distribution of energy carriers’ operators and energy makers as well as access of third companies to the energy network or environment protection legislation must be observed,” he said.

The European Commission earlier stated that the agreements between the countries, via the territory of which South Stream will be laid and Russia “do not fully correspond to the European legislation on competition and demands of the “third energy package.”

Oettinger’s press office Marlena Holzner said early December that beginning of construction of the South Stream gas pipeline section in Bulgaria and Serbia is not contrary to the European law on competition, but the agreements between Russia and EU member-states on the South Stream construction do not correspond to the European law and need to be revised.

Holzner named three main drawbacks of the agreements related to the EU third energy package. The EU mainly makes claim to the EU ban on management of the transport energy infrastructure for the companies manufacturing energy resources. “The agreements analyzed by us follow that Gasprom will manage the South Stream,” Holzner said. The second problem is that the agreement does not envisage access to the  gas pipeline for the companies from the third countries. “We see right now that the gas pipeline is being built only for the Russian gas,” she continued. The third problem for the EU is “transit fees.”

Holzner confirmed that the European Commission has sent a message to the Russian side on Monday recommending revision of the agreements.

The intergovernmental agreements have been already signed with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria to build the ground section of the pipeline. Total productivity during the first year of operation will be equal to approximately 16 billion cub.m. and then it will reach 63 billion cub.m. a year. The construction has already started in Bulgaria and Serbia and Hungary is the next, reported http-://itar-tass.com.—0—