Vladimir Putin

Turkey has set very ambitious targets to decrease its energy dependency, including increasing its local energy production, becoming an energy hub and diversifying its energy sources.

To be sure, it is good for such an energy-hungry country to set such goals. However, Turkey may be failing to reach them.

The Russian state company Gazprom will set up a company for the construction of a gas pipeline to Turkey, a week after Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced the cancellation of the South Stream pipeline.

According to Sergey Kupriyanov, spokesperson of Gazprom, quoted by Gazeta.ru, the company will be named Gazprom Russkaya and will be registered in Saint Petersburg.

Medvedev blames EU for South Stream

BELGRADE -- Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has discussed the South Stream gas pipeline project with Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.

The debate on Vladimir Putin's cancellation of the construction of the South Stream pipeline was animated, but somehow one-sided, writes Andrey Gurkov of Deutsche Welle's Russian section, quoted by the BTA wire service.

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BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Russian President Vladimir Putin have discussed in detail the situation with the South Stream gas pipeline project and the project for a pipeline through Turkey.

Russian and Serbian presidents discuss S. Stream

BELGRADE -- Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation late on Sunday with his Serbian counterpart Tomislav Nikolic, it has been announced.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel accused Russia Dec. 7 of interfering in the domestic affairs of numerous countries that are seeking closer ties to the European Union.

“Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are three countries in our eastern neighbourhood that have taken sovereign decisions to sign an association agreement with the EU,” Merkel told German daily Die Welt in an interview.

Bulgaria's Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski announced on Sunday Sofia is still waiting for an official notice saying the South Stream project is over.

Lukarski told Darik Radio it was not yet clear how much the country would lose if the project is really scrapped. In his words, Russian President Vladimir Putin's estimate of EUR 400 B is "an ephemeral number".

New EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini travels to Turkey next week to highlight the "strategic importance" of ties, one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rival visit during which he cancelled a huge gas pipeline to Europe.

So far the cabinet has received no formal notification for Russia's decision to abandon the South Stream project, Bulgarian Deputy PM Tomislav Donchev has said.