Greece and Russia on Tuesday signed a deal on Greece's participation in a gas pipeline project that will help strengthen Russia's grip on energy exports to Europe.
The agreement for the 900-kilometer (550-mile), €10 billion (US$15 billion) South Stream pipeline was signed at a Kremlin ceremony attended by Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Russia President Vladimir Putin.
At a news conference after the ceremony, Putin again focused on Russia's growing position as Europe's dominant supplier of gas and oil, and pooh-poohed efforts to find alternatives — both sources and conduits.
"Realizing the South Stream project doesn't mean that we are fighting some other alternative project," Putin told reporters. "Please, if someone can find some other similar project under economically acceptable terms that can guarantee products of a sufficient volume for these gas systems, we will only be glad."
The European Union, with the United States, has pushed another pipeline called Nabucco, but that project lags far behind South Stream, which will run under the Black Sea from Russia to Bulgaria, where it could branch off in several directions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment