კაი ბიჭები ხართ, ოპტიმისტ-პატრიოტები, მარა ინფორმაციულ შიმშილებში ხართ, ან/და მხოლოდ პროპაგანდისტულ წყაროებს ეძალებით
აი ბულგარეთი
http://news.yahoo.com/sofia-backs-moscow-u...-192854860.htmlSofia backs Moscow in U-turn on gas pipeline
Sofia (AFP) - Russia and Bulgaria pressed the EU on Monday to approve the controversial South Stream gas pipeline, a project that would bypass Ukraine and which Brussels views critically.
Having suspended preparations for the project last month at the height of the crisis between Moscow and Kiev, EU member Bulgaria changed tack to row back in behind the Russians.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference in the Bulgarian capital that "we hope the European Commission will adopt a reasonable approach ... without political considerations."
Meanwhile Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Orecharski voiced optimism that Brussels would accept "the very good arguments" in favour of going ahead with South Stream's Bulgarian section.
Bulgaria froze its involvement in the project on June 8 under pressure from the EU and US, against a backdrop of the crisis in Ukraine, the historic transit path of Russian gas to Europe.
The EU argued that competition regulations covering public tenders had not been respected, especially regarding access of third party countries, and sent Sofia a warning letter over the issue.
The 16-billion-euro ($21.8 billion) South Stream pipeline is an attempt to reduce Moscow's reliance on Ukraine as a transit country for its natural gas following disputes with Kiev in 2006 and 2009 that led to interruptions of gas supplies to Europe.
The EU has called on all 28 member states to resist pressure from the Kremlin over the project. But the union appears deeply divided, with several member states that depend on Russian gas supporting it.
With a capacity of 63 billion cubic metres per year, the main pipeline would stretch nearly 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles) from Russia under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia before reaching a terminal in Italy.
ესეც იტალია
http://euobserver.com/economic/124930Italian EU presidency backs South Stream
BRUSSELS - The Italian EU presidency is in favour of a controversial Russian pipeline, South Stream, which would circumvent Ukraine to bring gas to south-east Europe.
"We think South Stream should go ahead, as it would improve the diversification of gas routes to Europe," Italy's state secretary for EU affairs Sandro Gozi said on Thursday (10 July) during a press event in Brussels.
He echoed statements made by Italian foreign minister Federica Mogherini who visited Moscow on Wednesday and met with her Russian counterpart.
She said the pipeline was "very important for the energy security of our country, as well as that of the entire European area”, but stressed that the project should comply with EU law.
She also invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to a meeting of Asian and European leaders in Milan in October.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said during that Mogherini press conference that Italy and Russia "confirm our goal on completing the construction project of the South Stream gas pipeline ... and to continue active work in order to remove all issues that may arise, including in regard to the dialogue with the European Commission."
Work on the South Stream pipeline was halted in Bulgaria last month after the EU commission said it was in breach of the bloc's energy and public procurement laws.
Energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger said at the time that the ongoing Ukraine crisis has also made the EU wary of going ahead with the project.
South Stream would deprive Ukraine of transit revenues from the gas pipelines that cross its territory and bring about 80 percent of Russian gas exports to EU countries.
It would also enable it to cut off supplies to Ukraine to exert political pressure, without affecting its EU gas clients.
Michael Gonchar, a former executive at Ukraine’s gas distribution firm, Naftogaz, told EUobserver, that, together with Nord Stream, Russia’s recently-built pipeline to Germany, South Stream would give Moscow “a 100 percent monopoly on shipments of gas to Europe from the east”.
He added that it would make it less likely that the EU will ever build a gas pipeline to the Caspian Sea, the so-called Southern Corridor, to diversify supplies.
Elena Gerebizza from Counterbalance, an umbrella network of NGOs looking at the funding of EU projects, told this website that South Stream has little to do with real supply needs or energy security.
Italy's energy company ENI is involved in the construction of several segments of the pipeline via a subsidiary, she noted.
"There is a big interest from financial markets and other places [in South Stream] that have nothing to do with [EU] energy security," Gerebizza said.
· 
უკრაინის მოვლენები LV, ანუ Мелочь, но приятно
