Bulgaria faces tough talks on gas deal with Russia

Bulgarian Premier Sergey Stanishev was to travel to Moscow for sensitive talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the terms of Bulgaria's participation in the South Stream pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe.

Stanishev's task in Moscow "will not be an easy one," Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov said Saturday at a gas summit in Sofia that was boycotted by Putin over Bulgaria's lack of readiness to ink the South Stream deal on the sidelines.

Parvanov also reiterated Bulgaria's wish to take part in the project to channel Russian gas through Bulgaria to Western Europe via a pipeline under the Black Sea.

But he admitted there was a "clash of interests" between Sofia and Moscow on the terms of the deal and insisted that the small Balkan state would defend its interests.

"It is not fatal if we do not ink the deal now. There is no rush," he said.

Sofia and Moscow agreed in principle last January to have a 50:50 share in the new pipeline, which will span Bulgarian territory from east to west before branching off to Austria on one side, and Greece and Italy on the other.

The project, developed by Russia's gas giant Gazprom and Italy's Eni, will have an annual capacity of 31 billion cubic metres and is planned to be operational by 2014.

But a recent Russian plan to cut South Stream costs by using Bulgaria's existing pipeline network, which already channels Russian gas to neighbouring Greece, Macedonia and Turkey, angered Sofia.

In a move to wean off its almost total dependence on Russian supplies, Sofia has also expressed support for the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline to feed Europe gas from the Caspian region, while bypassing Russia.

Speaking to journalists at the Sofia summit Saturday, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko snubbed the project.

"I can assure you that Russia would always be able to offer Europe a better gas price than Nabucco," he said.

Bulgaria received a heavy blow during the Russia-Ukraine price row in January, which cut deliveries to Europe, as it receives all of its gas from Russia via Ukraine.

Sofia has however failed so far to receive any compensation for its damages.

Following the crisis, Bulgaria also sought to renegotiate its previous agreements with Gazprom, which were made via three intermediary companies, and sign direct contracts.

Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov even insisted Friday that Russia grant "state guarantees against eventual cuts in deliveries."

But a Gazprom representative at the two-day gas summit, which brought together suppliers, consumers and transit countries to discuss ways to secure European gas supplies, gave Sofia little hope that its demands would be heard, saying that Russia did not have the habit of renegotiating the terms of existing contracts.