Bulgaria quits Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline

Bulgaria will terminate its participation in the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project, Deputy Prime Minister and finance Minister Simeon Djankov said on Wednesday, balkaninside.com website reported.

Bulgaria will seek a termination of the trilateral intergovernmental agreement by mutual consent and if the request is rejected, it will pull out of the oil pipeline project in 12 months, as one of the clauses of the contract stipulates, Djankov explained.

"There is no threat of sanctions, we have been working for over a year with international companies and law offices, there is no chance that Bulgaria will suffer sanctions," Djankov declared.

The government's decision came analysis of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline showed it cannot be implemented under the terms of the 2007 agreement, Djankov explained.

Djankov said he hoped that the decision of the Bulgarian government would be well received by the other participants in the joint venture company.

The trans-Balkan pipeline is a joint venture in which Russia controls a 51% stake, while Bulgaria and Greece own 24.5% each.

The 300-km pipeline, planned to link the Black Sea port of Burgas to Alexandroupolis on the Aegean Sea, is designed to transport 35 million tons of oil a year, with a possible expansion to 50 million tons, to ease the tanker traffic burden in the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.