Bulgaria PM to meet with Medvedev, Putin in Moscow Tue

MOSCOW

Bulgaria’s Head of Government Sergei Stanishev is to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev here on Tuesday and is to hold talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The implementation of strategic joint energy projects will be the main subject of discussion at the upcoming talks.

The Kremlin press service has confirmed, “A meeting between Dmitry Medvedev and Sergei Stanishev is to be held on Tuesday”. 

A Russian government staff source, for his part, when speaking of Stanishev-Putin talks, scheduled for Tuesday, said the sides “are planning to discuss matters of current importance concerning Russo-Bulgarian relations in trade, economic, scientific, technical, educational, cultural, and humanitarian spheres.”

“Emphasis will be laid on the importance of implementing strategic joint energy projects (the construction of Belene nuclear power station, the South Stream gas pipeline, and the Burgas — Alexandroupolis oil pipeline), which are locomotives in bilateral economic cooperation and create a reliable basis for the development of the system of partner’s contacts on the regional and European scale,” the source said.

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, when speaking at the international forum, held in Sofia from April 24 to 25, on the theme of “Natural Gas for Europe: Security and Partnership”, announced his country’s intention to become the main transiter of gas in Southern Europe. Bulgaria participates in two main projects for the supply of gas in the region — the South Stream and Nabucco.

The Putin-Stanishev talks will also deal with intermediate results of the observance of the Year of Bulgaria in Russia (YBR). Russian government analysts believe, “Russian people’s great interest in YBR events again reaffirms the relevance and effectiveness of such forms of contacts between our peoples”.

Within the scope of Stanishev’s stay in Russia, provision is also made for his meetings with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Stanishev is currently in Moscow on a working visit the invitation of the Government of the Russian Federation.