Russian firms woo Bulgarian officials for pipeline project

20:45 Tue 12 Feb 2008 - Spasena Baramova

Photo: Reuters

Around 80 Bulgarian civil servants, reporters and representatives of non-governmental organisations were invited to visit the port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea on February 10-12 2008 as Russian firms launched a charm offensive to win over Bulgarian public opinion on the issue of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, mediapool.bg reported.

The Bulgarian delegation was showed around the port, whose oil terminal is part of the Russian Baltic Pipeline System (BPS). A similar oil terminal is considered as an option for the construction of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline.

Trans Balkan Pipeline BV, the company that will design and build the pipeline, is yet to decide what technology it will use for the oil terminal at the Bourgas end of the pipeline, according to Dmitrii Evstratov, general manager of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis Pipeline Consortium, the Russian company that holds 51 per cent in Trans Balkan Pipeline BV.

Evstratov is a former department chief in Russian state pipeline operator Transneft, which operates BPS. Transneft and two more state-owned firms, Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, form the Russian Bourgas-Alexandroupolis Pipeline Consortium.

Regardless of the technology that would be used, oil spills will be kept to a minimum, Evstratov added. Of 74 million tons of crude oil transported through the BPS so far, only 8kg got into the Gulf of Finland, Focus news agency said.

Transneft representatives also vowed to allocate 10 per cent of total investment into environment protection and tourism, ensuring that the ecological balance of the region would be preserved. The Russian experts said 10 per cent of the investments in the Primorsk oil port were spent on environment and tourism did not suffer after the construction of the oil pipeline, mediapool.bg reported.

Talking to Bulgarian radio station Darik, Evstratov said the company was not affected by the proposed referendum on the oil pipeline that will be held in Bourgas on February 17, because under the terms of the agreement setting up the pipeline company, "each country should solve its own problems and should comply with the signed agreement".

Bulgaria's 24.5 per cent stake in Trans Balkan Pipeline BV is held by Technoexportstroy and Bulgargaz Holding, while the Greek government passed 23.5 per cent to the consortium of Hellenic Petroleum and Thraki, retaining one per cent.