Cancellation of South Stream Shows Need for Other Gas Supply Routes - EU

Maros Sefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission, said in an interview that Russia did not discuss the decision to cancel South Stream with its partners in the European Union and announced the move to another project at a press conference. “After that, it became clear that Europe needed to find a suitable alternative for gas supplies to Southeast Europe,” added Shefchovic.

Shefchovic also said that the European Commission has established a high-level ad hoc group that is engaged in the development of gas transmission systems in Central and South-Eastern Europe. The first results of the group's work will be presented in June 2015.

At the end of 2014, Russia announced its decision to cancel the South Stream project. Russian energy giant Gazprom said the move was prompted by claims from the European Commission that the construction of the pipeline would violate EU antitrust laws. As a result, South Stream will be replaced by a Turkish pipeline, which should ensure the supply of natural gas to a concentrator on the Turkish-Greek border for further distribution to consumers in southern Europe. Its annual capacity is expected to be about 63 billion cubic meters.

In addition, Greece and Russia are planning to sign a bilateral agreement under which Athens will be provided with 5 billion euros as an advance payment for the construction of this gas pipeline. As a result, the Greek budget will receive 4.57 billion euros in advance for gas transit from Russia to the EU through its territory.

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