Blacklisted Russian Tycoon to Build South Stream - Report

Photo by BGNES

Gennady Timchenko, included in US list of sanctions over Ukraine, is to build Bulgaria's part of the South Stream.

The Russian official is reported to have a 63% share in Stroytransgaz, the company in charge of Bulgarian sector of the South Stream pipeline project.

The information, quoted by website Expert.bg, has not been immediately confirmed by the Council of Ministers.

Bulgaria's Economy Minister Dragomir Stoynev even announced on Friday he did not know which company is to manage the project on Bulgarian soil.

Reports by online editions of Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti suggest that Timchenko has the main stakeholder in Stroytransgaz since 2007, even though his name does not appear on the company's website.

Forbes describes Timchenko as the sixth richest Russian. The Financial Times has called him part of President Vladimir Putin's "inner circle".

Sanctions imposed by the US earlier forced him to sell his 43% share in energy giant Gunvor, the world's fourth-largest oil trader.

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