Thread: South Strem pipeline on, or off?

I don't understand what happened with this. Did Russia cancel South Stream because they got fed up with the politics of EU? Or is it back on again because Bulgaria signed the deal?

This is totally insane.

Forcing poor people in places like Bulgaria and Romania to pay for expensive gas just because Russia's gas isn't politically correct according to Washington. Same thing in Sweden - rather than get some Russian gas from North stream cheaply, they'd rather use more expensive domestic methods to produce gas. A relative of mine has a very important government job relating to gas and oil. He was told to avoid Russian gas at all cost, which proved very costly and was inconvenient.

The EU has turned into a tragicomic circus who cares more about dancing to the tune of Washington, than its own least fortunate citizens, people who are already struggling to afford to heat their houses.

You do realize that when the economy is driven by the politics, cheap stuff can become expensive stuff in days or even hours? Would it be better if the entire Europe depended on the energy resource from a single country, and the good will of the authorities of that country? Diversifying energy (gas/oil) strategies is definitely a right thing to do.

Да-да. Маразм крепчал. Евросоюз, вставляя палки в колеса "Южному потоку", наглядно продемонстрировал, что его экономика подчиняется политическим соображениям, причем даже не самого Евросоюза, а "старшего брата" из-за Атлантики. Начинать в таких условиях дорогостоящее строительство трубопровода по дну Черного моря - очень опрометчиво. Поэтому Россия будет диверсифицировать пути поставок и потребителей своего газа, это наверное "THE right thing to do".

South Stream isn't cancelled, it's only rerouted. Since the Trans-Balkan pipeline couldn't be built, the pipeline is being rerouted through Turkish Terretorial waters and will connect with the pipeline in Bulgaria.
A competitive Turkish pipeline, backed by the EU and US, is in the works but it's delayed due to a lack of funding. But the Turkey-Russia Joint Economic Commission says that's a non-issue so the Turkish section of the South Stream project can start virtually anytime. Greece also has a stake in the project and Serbia and Hungary are totally solid on completing the pipeline.
So tbh, I don't see anything standing in the way of South Stream now.
Turkey's new involvement in South Stream

Also, I totally agree that Russia diversifying it's pipeline routes and customers is the right thing to do. So even when South Stream is finished, the sales to non-Russian-Friendly countries should be considered a bonus and NOT reliable income.
It's never a good call to base an economy on unreliable "partners" (for gas, oil, or anything else - imports or exports).

Ok but is South Stream actually cancelled then?

Bulgaria suddenly decided to sign the agreement....

Or was that just because they realised that Russia found a workaround with Turkey (that was genius).

And isn't it an irony that nobody every complained about buying gas and oil from the USSR, was always done in my childhood despite we were not allies of the USSR. But it was business and convenient and the arrangement worked well for everybody. Now suddenly we can't buy gas from democratic modern Russia.

Originally Posted by Hanna

Ok but is South Stream actually cancelled then?

Bulgaria suddenly decided to sign the agreement....

Or was that just because they realised that Russia found a workaround with Turkey (that was genius).

And isn't it an irony that nobody every complained about buying gas and oil from the USSR, was always done in my childhood despite we were not allies of the USSR. But it was business and convenient and the arrangement worked well for everybody. Now suddenly we can't buy gas from democratic modern Russia.

South Stream is not cancelled. The only thing that Bulgaria was blocking is the underwater pipeline. But they did agree to connect with the pipeline that will run under Turkish terretorial waters. The part of the South Stream pipeline, running through Bulgaria, was never cancelled.
So all Russia has to do now is build the underwater pipeline, along the Turkish coastline, and Bulgaria will allow it to be hooked up to the pipeline running through Bulgaria.
So yeah, there will be a South Stream pipeline running through Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary to supply gas to southern Europe.

The EU is already having serious economic issues so I really don't get why they risked losing the cheap gas from Russia. It was a really brain-dead thing to do.
And there will probaly be even more economic issues caused by the sanctions since Russia is becoming more self-sustaining and moving it's economy eastward. The sanctions damaged Europe and they didn't change Russia's policies so the sanctions were fail-fail.

But media says it's cancelled and will be replaced by this new Turkey connection to Greece (interesting, last I heard, Turkey and Greece hate each other....)

So those long term enemies can cooperate but EU can't work with Russia. What a sick situation.

ЕК получила подтверждение Новака, что проект "Южный поток" остановлен |

"Вице-президент связался сегодня с министром энергетики РФ Александром Новаком, чтобы обсудить с ним планы России в отношении проекта "Южный поток". Министр Новак подтвердил вице-президенту Шевчовичу, что Россия больше не будет реализовывать проект "Южный поток"

Bulgaria maybe wants to continue but Russia does not.
Now its up to Bulgaria if they really want it they need to make an offer that Russia could not resist but so far Bulgaria would prefer to kiss Germany's behind.

The Bulgarians need ALL investment they can get, and job opportunities. There are no jobs - so many Bulgarians are working abroad, Huge poverty, an enormous social problem with the gypsies. It's incomprehensible that they botched this fantastic opportunity to make money as a transit land, and get cheap gas for themselves.

Originally Posted by Hanna

The Bulgarians need ALL investment they can get, and job opportunities.

No doubt. But the EU (aka Germany) does not care about Bulgarians. Moreover Bulgarian government does not care about Bulgarians.
Germany made them choose between Russia and the EU. They chose the EU. Now it's a pay day.

Originally Posted by hddscan

No doubt. But the EU (aka Germany) does not care about Bulgarians. Moreover Bulgarian government does not care about Bulgarians.

Yes, that's my impression. A rich country can maybe afford the luxury of rejecting income and opportunities because of political principles. But first of all, this isn't politics or ideology! This is just gas & energy for goodness sake! Perhaps Germany can afford to play games like this. But Bulgaria? Apparently they would rather have old people freeze to death from cold, than annoy Brussels or Washington. Pathetic!

Originally Posted by Hanna

Perhaps Germany can afford to play games like this. But Bulgaria? Apparently they would rather have old people freeze to death from cold, than annoy Brussels or Washington. Pathetic!

It happened before.
The US administration "hired" its most trusted lapdogs (Poland and Baltics) to bark against Nord Stream.
But as you know they have failed, because Germany needed it badly.
Polish Foreign Minister slams Nord Stream pipeline :: The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics
Russia accuses Estonia of "crude politicization" over Nord Stream
Analysis: Estonia will not allow the Nord Stream pipeline on its seabed | Moldova.org
Diplomaatia – Nord Stream: Estonia’s Lost Battle

This time Germany is pretty much safe, so it could play along with Washington to prevent the South Stream from happening.