Ukraine Steps Up Opposition to South Stream

The South Stream pipeline project, designed to pump gas from Russia to Europe bypassing Ukraine, is a threat to Ukraine's national security, the country's energy minister, Yuri Boiko, said.

"The South Stream project is a real threat to our national interests, and we will always be against it," Boiko said in an interview with Ukraine's Inter TV on Friday.

Russia annually pumps about 100 billion cubic meters of gas to European countries via Ukraine, which makes up 80 percent of its total gas supplies to Europe. The 15.5-billion-euro South Stream pipeline project is designed to cut Russia's dependence on the Ukrainian transit system.

The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly called on Russia to abandon the South Stream project and cooperate with Ukraine in modernizing its gas pipeline network.  Ukraine has also asked the European Union to take part in the upgrade.

Russian officials said the country plans to construct the pipe despite its interest in managing the Ukrainian gas transportation system.

The EU commissioner for energy, Guenther Oettinger, will visit Ukraine in June to witness the official start of the country's pipeline system renovation, Boiko said.

"The more we modernize our gas transportation system, the more we will be open and show our reliability, the less chances South Stream, which is designed to drain our gas transportation system, will have to be implemented," he added.

Russian officials said that South Stream will be build despite its interest in operating  the Ukrainian gas transportation system.

Russia covets Ukraine's Naftogaz Ukrainy distribution network and is proposing a merger of Gazprom and Naftogaz. (Read More HERE)

The modernization of Ukrainian gas pipelines is estimated to cost some $6.5 billion.

Source: RIA Novosti