Izvestia: "Slovenia joins South Stream"
Russian, Slovenian prime ministers sign South Stream agreements
The South Stream gas pipeline project will proceed according to the original plan, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin assured his Slovenian counterpart, Borut Pahor.
The most important document signed during Putin's visit was a joint venture agreement to design the Slovenian part of South Stream.
"I do not think anybody needs to hear again how pressing the issue is, what with problems in nuclear power and the undoubted demand for hydrocarbon resources," Putin said during a joint news conference with Pahor.
Yet, the signing of a document which should transform earlier agreements into practice, has apparently failed to ease Slovenia's concerns, specifically Turkey's threat to derail the project. Turkey recently raised doubts about the safety of laying the pipeline across its territory.
"We don't believe the project will be threatened by our Turkish partners. We have agreed to the need for all necessary documents with surveys related to environmental impact, routing and a feasibility study for the project. We have agreed to provide these documents to Turkey within the next few months," Putin said. "On the other hand, we know that developments can take an unexpected turn, and so are prepared for anything."
There are other options. One of them is to liquefy the gas for shipment in tankers across the Black Sea to Bulgaria where it would be re-gasified. It could be liquefied immediately after extraction in Yamal and from there delivered to southern Europe to pump into a pipeline.
"There are many options. We can consider all of them, but believe that nothing so far will prevent us from implementing the initial plan we have worked out with our Turkish partners," Putin concluded.
The EU's third energy package that the European Commission is pushing – which calls for a clear separation between natural gas transport and natural gas production – could force Russia to change its plans. Nevertheless, Moscow expects to reach an understanding with the European Union on this issue.
After explaining how European obstinacy would only push gas prices further up, Putin added: "Certain changes should be made regarding the gas business. I hope this will happen."
Reporters at the news conference also asked Putin to comment on the Libya situation as well as on the recent statements he and President Dmitry Medvedev had made.
"In Russia, the president is in charge of foreign policy, so there can be no split. I can assure you that we are very close and understand each other very well. It is the president's task to provide the suitable phrasing for the country's stand," Putin said.
"I think this is not what we should worry about now. We should think about the number of victims that is growing in the civil war that is actually under way in Libya, and also as a result of missile and bombing strikes delivered in the country," he added.
Anastasia Savinykh
