The Bulgarian government plans to unify national Gas Transportation System with Greek and Serbian ones. Moscow opposes the EU energy policy by Southstream pipeline.
The union of European pipelines is the way the EU adopted to challenge Russia's energy policy. On Monday 12/17 Greece and Bulgaria decided to unify their national Gas Transport Systems by a 3 bcm of gas capacity per year pipeline's realization from Bulgarian Stara Zagora to Greek Komotini town.
The project follows the European Energy Program for Recovery, which has been planed by the European Commission to diversify EU gas supplies from Russia's quasi monopoly and create a European common and liberalized energy market.
The energy agreement between Greece and Bulgaria is important because the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline, which will be extended to Romania and Hungary, will start from Komotini.
In the same town has been planed the start of Trans Adriatic Pipeline - TAP - a project which will carry 21 bcd of Azerbaijan's natural gas to Italy via Greece and Albania.
The European Energy Program of Recovery's aim has been followed also by Lithuania. The new centre-left Lithuanian government declared that Lithuania's GTS integration with the Poland's one is a priority of Lithuanian energy policy.
In addition to Greece, Bulgaria involved also Serbia in its energy policy by the sign of an official agreement about the unification of Bulgarian GTS with the Serbian one.
A 1,8 bcd of gas capacity per year realization's plan from Bulgaria to Serbia has been signed in Brussels by Bulgarian and Serbian PM Boyko Borysov and Ivica Dacic, and EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.
Nevertheless, the agreement between Bulgaria and Serbia could be stopped by Russia's energy policy and the realization of Southstream.
This pipeline has been planed by Moscow to deliver to Austria from Russia via the Black Sea seabed, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy 63 bcd of Russian gas per year.
On the one hand, Southstream increases EU energy dependence on Russia, whose gas supplies cover the 40% of the EU total need.
On the other hand, the pipeline blocks the EU gas supplies diversification project, which has been conceived by the European Commission to carry directly to Europe gas from Azerbaijan.
Southstream pipeline is a Russia's political project, whose realization started last 12/7, which limits Europe's energy independence and endangers EU member states' national security.
Matteo Cazzulani
