The government decided to terminate the state participation in Transbalkan Oil Pipeline Bulgaria.

In 2003 the Cabinet registered its participation in the company together with seven private organisations, Focus news agency reported. According to plan, the new company had to execute Bulgaria's part of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project.

A year later, the countries involved in the project agreed upon the creation of a single international company to carry out the construction. The organisation would include all the companies nominated by each state.

The international company would make the creation of Transbalkan Oil Pipeline Bulgaria pointless, government officials said. The Bulgarian companies participating in the new international organisation, however, have not been selected.

Shareholders' disagreement on project execution was among the reasons for the decision, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Assen Gagauzov said.

The Bulgarian companies' lack of clear position was a cause for concern among the country's Russian and Greek partners, Gagauzov said.