Eurasia Press & News
The contract for the construction of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline was not favourable for Bulgaria and against national interests, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said during a visit to the Black Sea city of Bourgas on December 6 2009.
The contract had no clauses that would allow the country to withdraw from it, he said.
The deal was signed in 2007 by the Socialist-led cabinet at the time, giving Russia the majority 51 per cent stake, with Bulgaria and Greece splitting the rest.
Bulgarian Parliament has already ratified the deal, but public opinion in Bourgas remains strongly against the project, fearing that it would hurt the tourism industry in the area.
Borissov said that talks on amending the agreement began during the visit of President Georgi Purvanov and Economy Minister Traicho Traikov to Greece. However, such a change can not be implemented without the agreement of Russia.
Bulgaria was pursuing its dialogue with Russia and Greece, but the contract was drafted in a way that was contrary to Bulgarian interests, Borissov said. The pipeline was a problem for the environmental situation in Bourgas and the region, he said.
