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From Bulgaria
19.08.2014 16:05
© south-stream.info
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Economy and Energy announced today it will hand over to the prosecutor’s office the case of South Stream Bulgaria’s share capital increase actions. Despite an order from interim economy and energy minister Vasil Shtonov issued on Aug 11, the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) which is equal partner with Russia’s Gazprom in the South Stream Bulgaria joint venture went ahead with a capital increase using a permission issued by ex-energy minister Dragomir Stoinev back in December 2013. The capital increase to BGN 397.6 m (EUR 198.8 m) was officially registered in the trade register on Aug 18.
“This action of the project company “South Stream Bulgaria” is breaching the protocol decision of minister Shtonov issued on Aug 11 ordering all actions for the project to be stopped until it becomes compliant with the European legislation”, an e-mailed statement released by the ministry today said.
According to the ministry, the capital increase itself “does not mean a start of construction works, but rather allows for preparatory works to go ahead”. Nevertheless the ministry considered that the actions of South Stream Bulgaria “do not protect the interest of the Bulgarian Energy Holding in the joint venture”.
The ministry however affirmed its general support for the South Stream project taking the stance of Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev who insisted national and European legislation to be strictly observed.
Following this announcement, the Bulgarian Energy Holding went on to release a short e-mail statement saying it notified its partner Gazprom that all work on South Stream should be stopped until "questions related to the tender procedure for engineering, delivery and construction of the pipeline are answered in compliance with the requirements of the European Commission". The Holding however stated that it could not reveal "trade secret" information without the consent of Gazprom, despite pledging to fully cooperate with the EU.
In the meantime deputy PM and regional development minister Ekaterina Zaharieva is expected to meet European energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger for discussion of important energy security and infrastructure matters, especially guaranteeing gas supply for the upcoming winter.
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