On the face of it, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s Government seems to have softened its stance on what are generally termed the Russian energy projects.

Immediately before and after the election that brought Borissov to power as Prime Minister, he and those close to him publicly expressed deep suspicion and profound reservations about major energy projects involving Russia and to which previous governments had committed Bulgaria.

Major concerns about these projects include a lack of clarity about long-term costs and how these will be financed, the shroud of secrecy in which then-governments enveloped the contracts and in one case, alleged potential for environmental disaster that could choke a key Bulgarian port in oil.

The ensuing uncertainty about the Belene nuclear power station, South Stream pipeline and Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline projects led Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov – the only figure of significance remaining in office in Bulgaria who emanates from the pro-Moscow school – making a very public plea for the Russian projects not to be dumped.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, whose country’s economic and political future rides on the further expansion of its energy influence, insists, among other things, that all the projects are in the best interests of Bulgaria and that Moscow will continue its stated policy towards Sofia of wanting to help Bulgaria become a key energy player in the Balkans and in Europe.

If Putin went to his meeting in Poland with Borissov measuring success only by whether he could make this message clear, but also make equally clear that Moscow wanted an answer as soon as possible, he succeeded. At least too, from Putin’s point of view, Borissov did not pre-judge any of the issues by saying that the answer on any of the questions was likely to be no.

Borissov, however, would be well-advised, as the process of studying the contracts and their implications proceeds, to heed the words not only of the Russian experts whom Putin is so willing to send to Sofia, but also other voices from countries to the west of here – and that does not even necessarily mean the United States, widely perceived as the principal backer of South Stream’s rival, Nabucco.

For all Putin’s veiled threat to simply choose another partner for the pipeline projects if Bulgaria withdraws, Borissov would also do well to remember that Moscow did a cost-benefit analysis of its own before deciding on routes, and for all Putin’s words, the plans are hardly based on Russian altruism.

Most of all, Borissov and his closest advisers will need to take into careful consideration what future generations will make of the decisions of 2009; whether these will represent powerful strategic assets, or crushing megaliths of debt.