Rumen Radev’s meeting on Tuesday in Sochi with Russia’s President is expected to focus on a major new energy project connecting the two countries. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the resort of Sochi on Tuesday to discuss tourism, cultural and historic ties, and last but not least – the big plans for new energy projects.
An interview that Radev gave for Russia’s Kommersant newspaper indicted that he will propose the creation, or restart, of a direct gas pipeline across the Black Sea, under the name of “Bulgarian Stream”.
“Bulgaria needs Russian gas deliveries across the Black Sea. These ambitions are not very different from Germany’s drive to build the ‘Nord Stream 2’ project,” Radev said, adding that both countries would need to abide by EU energy rules.
Radev welcomed Bulgaria’s restart of the nuclear power project at Belene, calling it an “act of realism”.
“This project has a future, under a clear legal, time and financial framework,” the Bulgarian President was quoted as saying.
A series of high-profile energy projects – NPP Belene, the South Stream gas pipeline and the oil pipeline between Burgas and Alexandroupoli in Greece, to transport Russian and Caspian oil – was a hallmark of the era of Bulgaria’s Socialist ex-President Gerogi Parvanov.
All of these projects were either scrapped or remain frozen, however.
But the government’s recent decision to unfreeze the NPP Belene project, which has so far cost Bulgarian taxpayers 3 billion lev [1.5 billion euros], paves the way towards the restart of this costly venture.
The meeting between Radev and Putin comes after the 18 March re-election of the Russian President and just between Putin’s meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and two days before he meets French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Before meeting Putin, Radev talked with Russian Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedev in Moscow on Monday. Radev described the meeting as a “breakthrough” that would reinvigorate the high-level dialogue between the two countries. He also noted that the re-start to Belene “implies Russia’s participation” in it.
The Bulgarian head of state also attended the Days of Bulgarian Culture in Moscow, where he watched an opera performed by the Sofia Opera and Ballet Company that is touring Russia.
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