Putin Confirms the Energy Map

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement yesterday in Athens with the prime minister of Greece and Bulgaria on the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline. The Greek prime minister characterized the event as the appearance of new countries, Greece and Bulgaria, in the energy map of the world. Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov thought that it was too early still to call it a map – it’s a rough draft.
Transneft president Semyon Vainshtok looked extremely satisfied after the signing of the trilateral agreement “On Cooperation in Equipping and Operating the Burgas-Alexandroupolis Oil Pipeline. But he was not very pleased to be asked by journalists how much the construction of the pipeline would cost.

“Well, let me tell you how it will happen first,” he answered. “The intergovernmental agreement gives us the right to receive specific parts of the project from Greece and Bulgaria. We will form an international company with them and register the main office…” He looked around. “Then we will allot funds for it,” he continued. “And the company will announce a tender for a feasibility study of the project. Then the feasibility study will be confirmed. Then a tender will be announced for a management company. It will determine the costs for the construction and installation work. And only then can you ask me what it will cost.”

“And how long will that take?” someone asked.

Kommersant