Bulgaria, Russia sign South Stream agreement

Bulgaria and Russia established a joint venture last Saturday to handle construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline on Bulgarian territory. The agreement was signed during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to Sofia. He and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov discussed key energy projects, including the long-planned Belene nuclear power plant. It has stalled since Borisov’s centre-right party, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), came to power 15 months ago and began raising questions about the economic feasibility of the undertaking and refused to provide state funding for it.