Brussels, 09/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - Early on the evening of Tuesday 9 December, the Commissioner for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, met the ministers of the stakeholder countries to the gas pipeline project South Stream, led and now threatened with abandonment by the Russian gas company Gazprom.
This working session, which followed the Energy Council, allowed the ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Romania and Slovenia to exchange information about the unofficial announcement that Russia was to abandon the South Stream gas pipeline project.
The exchange of views also touched upon priorities in terms of gas infrastructure for central and south-eastern Europe. Sefcovic has previously stated that he wished to discuss their own energy security situation with the countries in question, “to find out their concerns and see how to resolve them and to find out their key priorities in the framework of an alternative solution”.
Given the “vulnerability” of the region, as shown in the recent stress tests on the energy system of the EU, the seven countries in question and the Commission have agreed to ensure the implementation of key regional energy infrastructure projects (LNG terminals, connections to the Southern gas corridor, development of offshore reserves in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea) by improving interconnections within the region, particularly between Bulgaria and its neighbours, and in a north-south direction. With regard to this, the ministers welcomed the intention of Bulgaria, Greece and Romania to create a 'vertical gas corridor' on the basis of interconnections with the 'Southern gas corridor'.
Lastly, the parties agreed to set up a high-level working group to discuss an action plan for the integration of the gas market and interconnections in central and south-eastern Europe and will look at how to mobilise the 'investment package', the Connecting Europe Facility, infrastructure projects of common interest and the future strategic projects of the Energy Union. (EH)