No party withdraws from the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline project. Environmental assessment expected.

Georgi Velev 
georgi.velev@ klassa.bg 


The construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline continues and no party has withdrawn from the tube's construction, stated yesterday for Klassa the Financial Ministry, representing Bulgaria in the project. Its officials clarified that the meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Trans-Balkan Pipeline (TBP), which was held in Rome yesterday, had proceeded normally. Russia and Greece again showed understanding and will wait for the environmental assessment on the project to be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Water. 

It is expected that the redrawn Environmental Impact Assessment  (EIA) will be submitted for consideration by the end of February. Afterwards, a deadline must be set for the wide-ranging public discussion of the project. The first EIA report was returned for further review after the request of the Bulgarian government for the submission of a plan for oil unloading at the Port "Rosenetz''. 
At the meeting, no financial aspects were discussed. The Bulgarian side acknowledged that it was indebted with contributions of €7.3 mln to the company. The funds will be remitted when there is more clarity on the project, specified the Ministry of Finance. 

For the operation of the project's consultants from the Germany-based ILF Consulting Engineers, so far, TBP has transferred about €15 mln. This amount involves the funds allocations for EIA, explained to Klassa, the former head of the Bulgarian branch of the pipeline project company, Plamen Rusev. The subcontractor in the hammering out of the environment assessment is the Bulgarian company GeoMarin Centre Ltd.

Rusev predicted that if Bulgaria and Greece continue not to cover their liabilities within a few months, Russia will suspend the financing of the oil pipeline construction. Moscow is the majority shareholder in the project through its companies Transneft, Gazprom Neft and Rosneft. Bulgaria and Greece each have a stake of 24.5 % in the project. 

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