Bulgaria permits making of final investment decision on building South Stream in the country
MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) - The government of Bulgaria has authorized the country's minister of economy, energy, and tourism to allow Bulgarian Energy Holding to make a final investment decision on the building of the South Stream gas pipeline in the country, a government statement says.
The statement says that a condition for the document's adoption and signing is the conclusion of new gas contract between Gazprom Export and Bulgargaz in 2013 on terms satisfactory to the Bulgarian company.
The idea is to build a 540-kilometer pipeline in Bulgaria with throughput capacity of 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year and three compressor stations - Barna, Lozen, and Rasovo. The government said that the presumed construction cost is EUR 3.3 billion, but notes that the cost will be updated based on project configuration and future measures. Gazprom is not commenting on the cost of the Bulgarian pipeline section.
A year ago, Gazprom was estimating the South Stream price tag at EUR 15.5 billion, of which EUR 10 billion would go to laying pipeline across the Black Sea floor and EUR 5.5 billion for building it in Southern and Central European countries. The aim of South Stream is to diversify natural gas export routes.
Final South Stream investment decisions have already been made in Serbia and Hungary, and the signing of the decision on the Bulgarian section is slated for November 9.