Russia: new pipeline will go ahead despite setback.

Source: AP

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Russia's foreign minister insists the EU's order to halt construction work on the South Stream pipeline in Bulgaria is only a brief delay in the project planned to bypass Ukraine as a transit country and consolidate Russia's energy grip in Europe.

Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday "there are absolutely no changes in plans, I have absolutely no doubt that this halt is only temporary."

The South Stream pipeline, in which Russian state gas company Gazprom holds a 50-percent stake, would provide an alternative supply route for Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria and Italy from 2018.

Bulgaria froze work upon orders of the European Commission, which said Bulgaria hadn't respected rules on awarding public contracts. The Commission has also delayed some political talks on the pipeline amid the Ukrainian crisis.

Read more: http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/russia-new-pipeline-will-go-ahead-despite-setback

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Elsewhere :

UPDATE 1-Serbia, Russia say ready to go ahead with South Stream gas line

BELGRADE, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday it expected Serbia to begin building its leg of the Gazprom-led South Stream gas pipeline as planned in July, saying Belgrade and Moscow were ready to move forward with the project.

Against a backdrop of conflict in Ukraine, the pipeline plan has become a focus of tension between Russia and the European Union, with Serbian neighbour Bulgaria this month suspending construction at the behest of Brussels pending a ruling on whether the project complies with EU law.

Serbia finds itself caught between its ambitions to join the EU, with which it has started accession talks, and historical ties with Russia. Gazprom's oil arm, Gazprom Neft, owns 51 percent of Serbia's main oil company, NIS.

Construction of the Serbian leg is due to begin in July.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/06/17/ukraine-crisis-southstream-serbia-idINL5N0OY28820140617

EU now prepared to consider increased volumes via Nordstream / Opal.

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) — If Ukraine disrupts Russian gas transit via its territory, the European Commission is ready to negotiate increased deliveries through the Opal pipeline, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Monday.

“We have discussed this issue with the European Commission. It is now as follows: if we record problems with transit via the territory of Ukraine, then the issue of the Opal pipeline will be raised and it will be solved,” Miller said.

The Opal pipeline connects the Nord Stream pipeline with Europe’s gas transportation network. Gazprom was unable to run Nord Stream at full capacity because Europe restricted the volumes of gas permitted for delivery via Opal, under the terms of the so-called EU’s Third Energy Package, which stipulates that the companies involved in gas production cannot be the owners of the long distance pipelines located in the region.

The uninterrupted flow of Russian gas to Europe has recently been put into question by the political crisis in Ukraine and its ballooning gas debt to Russia. The Nord Stream gas pipeline, completed in 2012, is one of the guarantees of reliable Russian gas delivery to Europe, but the transport network requires Opal pipeline to work at full capacity.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140616/190564008/Europe-Ready-to-Consider-Opal-Pipeline-For-Future-Gas-Supplies-.html