October 31, 2006

Russian Transneft, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft to receive equal stakes in Bulgaria-Greece pipeline firm

Russian energy firms Transneft, Rosneft and Gazprom Neft are to receive 33.3% each in the unified company that will operate the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, transporting Russian oil from Bulgaria to Greece.

Transneft President Semyon Vainshtok told journalists on Tuesday.

Vainshtok said that Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Transneft have already signed the corresponding agreement to set up a joint company.

He said that a draft intergovernmental agreement has already been prepared and should be signed by the end of 2006. “Who will be the operator of the project will be decided with Greece and Bulgaria,” he said.

He also said that last week he had a meeting with representatives from the Greek side on this project. “They understood our position and changed their opinion on a number of issues,” he said.

In particularly he noted that earlier the Greek and Bulgarian sides wanted to receive compensation for the fact that Russia received control of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis project.