... Trans-Balkan line, could be diverted to Turkish Stream with the construction of first line. The second line could be used to export Russian gas to Southeast Europe. Nevertheless, due to the fact that Gazprom is conducting talks with European Commission (EC) ... ... Turkish Stream as a leverage in its negotiations with the EC. Now competition between Nord Stream–2, Turkish Stream and even South Stream projects is reemerging and if the Nord Stream – 2 fails, the likelihood of the Turkish Stream becoming a reality ...
... but they need an alternative supply route, since Russian gas still comes to them via Ukraine.
The main obstacle to rapid construction of the Turkish Stream, however, is the expense of the project, especially given the difficult market conditions in Russia. The cost of the total complex of works to construct South Stream
has been approaching 40 billion dollars
.
Gazprom has decided to hand over most of the construction of the gas transport system in Europe to national governments in order to comply with the EU’s Third Energy Package, and to reduce ...
... than Bulgaria does not strengthen Russia’s position on the European gas market from a strategic point of view. Rather, abandoning the South Stream project should be a good reason to start a new chapter in energy cooperation between Europe and Russia.
The decision on South Stream can easily be viewed as a reaction to Western sanctions. For years, Brussels has been pursuing an active policy against Russian plans to build a southern link of its gas infrastructure to connect the country directly with the European market,...
The Ukrainian crisis is currently the leading factor weighing on Western international relations, with the EU being caught in an unstable position, torn between the U.S.A.'s pressure on one side, and the economic interdependency with the Russian Federation on the other. This article examines the current state of the issue from a diplomatic standpoint, and the implications concerning European strategic interests.
The discussion revolves around some main points: the drifting of the EU ...
... more to lose than to gain in that scenario, gas might actually reveal itself as being the common ground to build agreements to solve other current issues, hopefully leading to an easing of tensions. Indeed, this appears to be one of the fronts where Russia is currently at work, especially with its pushing for the advancement of the South Stream project, an effort that could relieve Europe from the worries of a gas crisis. A signal in this direction was given on September 16th, when the head of Gazprom’s international projects department, Alexander Siromyatin, announced that ...
... to the privatization of the national joint stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy.
The South Stream project appears to be the only litmus paper test this year that might reveal the degree of the EU’s determination to restrain its energy relations with Russia (the first gas supplies via South Stream are to happen in late 2015, while in 2013, the construction of the overland section of the South Stream gas pipeline began in Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia). Significant EU reductions of Russian gas imports are unlikely to happen in 2013. And ...
... financial fantasy and betoken of a short-termism that is strategically reckless. Continued austerity for the next decade and perhaps longer will probably end any remaining hopes for both Nabucco and South Stream.
But the energy battle between the EU and Russia over Nabucco and South Stream is a proxy conflict in a wider war of rival visions – a growing strategic divergence that risks dividing the greater Europe permanently. Just as the EU seeks to diversify its sources of supply away from Russia towards North Africa and ...
... Europe. An official justification is that Europe feels that gas is overpriced and super-natural profits are recorded by the Russian gas monopoly. At IMEMO RAN Sergei Komlev, Gazprom Export Head of Department for gas Contracts and Pricing, “rebuffs ... ... Gazprom has reduced prices by pursuing its own strategy of spreading costs by building more pipelines and supplying more gas; South Stream pipeline introduction resulted in lower prices for European consumers.
That said, Europe still does not agree, ...
