Journal of Turkish Weekly: Russia 'could lose most' from South Stream stoppage

Russia could be the biggest loser from the cancellation of the South Stream pipeline, designed to transport natural gas across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe, as it wants to weaken its dependence on Ukraine as a pipeline transit country, according to a senior analyst.

The comments by Judy Dempsey, senior associate at Carnegie Europe, come a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during a visit to Turkey that South Stream was being dropped in favor of a plan to build a pipeline to Turkey to supply gas to Europe.

Dempsey told Anadolu Agency (AA):''Russia lost because it wishes to dominate the markets in Western Balkans - now they have suffered a setback."

The South Stream, by providing gas to Europe through the Black Sea, would have given Russia the power to the stop flow of gas to Ukraine without affecting others parts of Europe.

Russian energy giant Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas in the world, cut gas supplies to Ukraine in June, claiming Kiev’s national oil company Naftogaz had not paid its gas bill of about $4.5 billion.

The Ukrainian crisis along with price disputes between Moscow and Kiev have interrupted energy supplies this year.  MORE