... assert that the pipe game is far from over. Taking financial difficulties into account, Gazprom might also intent to use 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 will increase. Actually, Poland's objections to a joint venture for the Nord Stream – 2 project expressed through ...
Over the last few months since the decision not to build the South Stream pipeline experts around the world have been trying to guess the Russian authorities’ next step: will Moscow admit the project is non-viable, will it try to reach agreement with European officials, or will it come up with something quite ...
Vladimir Putin’s unexpected U-turn on the construction of the South Stream pipeline is without a doubt a major game changer. The significance and political severity of this step was cemented by the time and place of the decision – following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara, at the ...
From the point of view of Bulgaria, South Stream has one major flaw
On the anniversary of the day Communist leader Todor Zhivkov was deposed and one-party rule ended a quarter century ago, Bulgaria experienced the rise of its first four-party coalition government into power. The new government ...
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 away...
... figure of 4.5bn dollars[1], as late as of June 2014. Understandably each of the Member States has ever since been looking forward to implementing solutions to avoid a repetition of those past experiences. One worthy example is the development of the South Stream pipelines, which aims to free the interested parties of the transport risks, by deviating the gas line path outside the Ukrainian area. Certainly the Union's leaders had those precedents clear in mind, which arguably were also the primary ...
... are currently 3.4 USD for 1 thousand cubic meters per 100 km). Given the economic situation in Ukraine, the probability of a transit crisis during winter is high. The future of Ukraine’s gas transportation system depends entirely on whether the South Stream Gas Pipeline Project is implemented or not. As for the other energy assets of Ukraine (oil refineries, coal mines, the power industry, etc.), their economic attractiveness, frankly speaking, is not great enough for investors to start queuing ...
... this post will generate some feedback in one form or another. In a week, I will be returning with a new post on energy, on promised topics. This short intermission has missed some interesting events; one colleague of mine has just returned from where South Stream is being build and it looks in full-swing, in contrast Nabucco appears to be now a distant dream of a EU policymaker, Egypt continued instability has caused a short spike in oil prices and as usual there is plenty of news in the ever popular ...
... pipeline that seek to circumvent Russia are built on 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 ...
... model has altered with population becoming less concentrated requiring an additional infrastructure, thus expenditure. In fact, 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, wishing to fit a North American Model where long-term contracts are near absent as purely basic economic principles of supply ...