The Sofia Globe: New controversy engulfs South Stream pipeline project in Bulgaria

Despite its protestations to the contrary, Bulgaria’s now-departed Plamen Oresharski administration appears to have nudged on the project to build the South Stream gas pipeline, heavily hyped by the Kremlin but opposed by the European Commission.

The latest controversy stems from the decision by Dessislava Terzieva, who was regional development minister in the Oresharski cabinet, to issue construction permits to South Stream Bulgaria to build the pipeline terminal and a gas compression station near the Black Sea port of Varna, where the pipeline is due to make its landfall.

The permit was issued on July 31 and published in the State Gazette on August 5, only a day before the Oresharski government left office. Although the decision can be appealed in court, the appeal period is very short – only three days after the notice’s publication in the State Gazette.
MORE