Austria insists on developing South Stream gas pipeline, despite the tensions in Ukraine. This announcement was made by Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz at the meeting with his counterparts in Brussels. He stressed it that Europe needs diverse pipelines as much as diverse suppliers.
On June 24, Vladimir Putin is paying a visit to Vienna to discuss the South Stream issue with Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Austria's Chancellor Werner Feynman.
On June 17, Austrian energy company OMV called on the EU to pace up the South Stream project implementation. OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss said that the negotiations should intensify, rather than ebb away.
In his turn, Guenther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Energy okayed the project, yet, before it is relaunched, Russia will have to adopt the EU's third energy package laws banning gas companies from owning pipelines in the EU. The EU authorities regard the project as non-compliant with these provisions, and that is why the South Stream gas project was halted until the standards are met.
On June 8, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski informed that the works on South Stream were frozen due to the EU inquiry.
"I have ordered all work to be stopped. We will decide on further developments following consultations with Brussels," Mr Oresharski said.
South Stream is meant for transporting gas through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy. It was started on December 7, 2012 in the Anapa region. The first gas will be supplied via South Stream in late 2015. Its total capacity will exceed 60 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
