Energy

The announcement that Bulgaria has halted work on the South Stream project “could be a bit more serious” than the previous one, a gas analyst has commented.

The South Stream Bulgaria project company has increased its capital in defiance of orders to the contrary issued by caretaker energy minister Vasil Shtonov.

Bulgaria will launch talks with green energy producers and power stations Maritsa Iztok 1 and 3 to draft a new model for setting electricity prices, a cabinet minister has said.

According to caretaker Economy and Energy Minister Vasil Shtonov, the new pricing model should benefit both the state and the energy companies.

Ukraine has begun test imports of gas from Slovakia via an upgraded pipeline, the head of Ukrainian state-owned gas company Naftogaz said on Aug. 16, as the country tries to secure greater energy independence from Russia.

The first batch of pipes for the Bulgarian section of the South Stream gas pipeline has been delivered by German company Eurotype to the Port of Varna.

A total of four parallel lines are to be put on the Black Sea seabed, each of which requires over 75 000 pipes. The sea section of the pipeline spans 931 km.

The South Stream pipeline project designed to carry Russian natural gas to the European Union bypassing Ukraine will probably remain on hold for years, Bloomberg has reported.

The European Commission has long wanted the continent’s power grids to work in unison for reasons of efficiency and supply security, so far to little avail, but a regional power network could soon be a reality, courtesy of State Grid Corporation of China.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has formed a special team to investigate the sale of the oil company Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS), which was once owned by the government.

NIS was privatised in late 2008 when Russia's Gazprom Neft bought 51 percent of the company, while the remaining 49 percent of shares were distributed for free to the Serbian people.

Iran has expressed willingness to supply gas to Europe via the Nabucco gas pipeline.

Ali Majedi, Deputy Oil Minister in charge of International Affairs, announced that two European countries had already expressed interest in the project.

The shareholder agreement with Westinghouse on Kozloduy NPP unit7 does not tie Bulgaria to any requirements for investments, state guarantees or mandatory purchase contracts.

The company issued a statement to shed light on the agreement, which was published on the website of the Kozloduy N-plant on Friday.