Putin will not attend Black Sea energy conference UK
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will not attend an energy summit of Black Sea nations in Sofia this week and will instead meet his Bulgarian counterpart in Moscow next week, Putin's spokesman said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the change of plan did not imply any problems with Moscow's negotiations with Bulgaria and other key nations on a major new gas pipeline from Russia to Europe, known as South Stream.
"Work is going on in a very positive air," Peskov said. "Sooner or later, we expect agreements ... this is a very labyrinthine project. That is not a secret."
U.S. and European Union officials have privately criticised South Stream, saying it will increase European dependency on Russian gas exports. Europe already counts on Russia for a quarter of its natural gas.
The EU is instead promoting a rival scheme to use Central Asian gas, known as Nabucco, and both Brussels and Moscow have been competing to sign up potential transit countries and suppliers for their personal pipelines.
Peskov said that, with Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev due in Moscow on April 28, it made no sense in terms of protocol for Putin to visit him in Sofia only a few days earlier.
"It was considered that it will be better, if Stanishev is coming here ... to discuss the whole situation taking into account the results of the colloquium," Peskov said.
Moscow will instead send Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko to the Black Sea talk.
South Stream, a project led by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (), would allow Moscow to bypass Ukraine in sending gas to Europe. Italian energy firm Eni SpA () is also participating in the project.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the change of plan did not imply any problems with Moscow's negotiations with Bulgaria and other key nations on a major new gas pipeline from Russia to Europe, known as South Stream.
"Work is going on in a very positive air," Peskov said. "Sooner or later, we expect agreements ... this is a very labyrinthine project. That is not a secret."
U.S. and European Union officials have privately criticised South Stream, saying it will increase European dependency on Russian gas exports. Europe already counts on Russia for a quarter of its natural gas.
The EU is instead promoting a rival scheme to use Central Asian gas, known as Nabucco, and both Brussels and Moscow have been competing to sign up potential transit countries and suppliers for their personal pipelines.
Peskov said that, with Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev due in Moscow on April 28, it made no sense in terms of protocol for Putin to visit him in Sofia only a few days earlier.
"It was considered that it will be better, if Stanishev is coming here ... to discuss the whole situation taking into account the results of the colloquium," Peskov said.
Moscow will instead send Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko to the Black Sea talk.
South Stream, a project led by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (), would allow Moscow to bypass Ukraine in sending gas to Europe. Italian energy firm Eni SpA () is also participating in the project.
