Belgrade Insists NATO-Backed 2018 Drills is Regional Initiative

On Tuesday, Serbian media reported that the country's first joint military drills with NATO would be held on Serbian soil in October 2018. Vulin, however, clarified that this was a regional initiative, launched in 2013.

UN court rejects Serbia and Croatia genocide claims

The United Nations' highest court has ruled that neither Croatia nor Serbia committed genocide against each other's populations during the Balkan wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s...
Peter Tomka, president of the International Court of Justice, said on Tuesday that many crimes had been committed by both countries' forces during the conflict, but that the intent to commit genocide - by "destroying a population in whole or in part" - had not been proven against either country.

"Croatia has failed to substantiate its claim that genocide was committed" by Serbia, Tomka said earlier as he delivered the verdict in the landmark case at The Hague-based court.

A 17-judge bench ruled that the acts committed by the Serbs had not intended to "destroy" the Croatian ethnic group in certain areas of Croatia claimed by Serb secessionists, but to "move them by force".

Al Jazeera's Katarina Drlja, reporting from the Hague, said that while there were "some elements of dissatisfaction" on the case from both Serbia and Croatia legal teams, the verdict also offered "encouragement" to both countries to cooperate on finding the missing victims.

Zagreb dragged Belgrade before the ICJ in 1999 on genocide charges linked to Croatia's war of independence in 1991-95 following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

Serbia was accused of ethnic cleansing as a "form of genocide", leading to large numbers of Croats being displaced, killed or tortured and their property being destroyed.

Croatia had sought financial compensation.

About 20,000 people died in the conflict, one of several bloody wars that shook the Balkans in the 1990s.

Belgrade responded with a counter-suit in 2010, saying some 200,000 ethnic Serbs were forced to flee when Croatia launched a military operation to retake its territory.

Following Zagreb's counter-offensive, called Operation Storm, the proportion of ethnic Serbs in Croatia shrank from 12 percent to four percent.

Following the verdict, Serbian PresidIent Tomislav Nikolic voiced hope for lasting peace in the region.

"I hope that in the future Serbia and Croatia will have the strength to jointly resolve all that is hampering the possibility of establishing a period of lasting peace and prosperity in our region," Nikolic told journalists.

Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said she hoped the ruling would contribute to "closing this historic chapter and moving on to a better and safer period for people in this part of Europe."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/serbia-guilty-1991-genocide-croatia-150203105839834.html
3/5/15--------------

EU Commission's Stance on South Stream in Serbia Still Unknown

The position of the new team of European Commissioners on the construction of the Serbian section of the Russia-led South Stream gas pipeline is not clear yet though preparations for the project are underway, the Russian president's top aide, Yury Ushakov, told journalists Wednesday.
"Preparations for the construction of the Serbian section are well underway. I expect them [European Commissioners] to mention it. It has been made clear to Serbia that it will find next to impossible to implement this project without a go-ahead from Brussels, although [Serbia] is more than ready. It is of great interest to them," the presidential aide said.

Ushakov said that the recent elections to the European Commission effectively put its decision-making on hold, meaning that it would take more time for the union's executive body to agree on a unified approach to the South Stream project. A new team of 28 commissioners, one from each member state, is appointed every five years.

• "The Commission is getting new members, so we are still to learn about Brussels" stance [on the pipeline]. We are continuing to raise awareness of the project. It's not over yet. We are ready to go ahead," Ushakov said.

In early October, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic reaffirmed Belgrade's commitment to the South Stream project, saying it would go ahead with its construction.

Russian energy giant Gazprom started building the South Stream gas pipeline across the Black Sea in 2012 to reduce the unreliable passage of Russian natural gas to central and southern Europe through Ukraine. The pipeline is expected to be fully operational by 2018.................http://en.ria.ru/world/20141015/194112027/EU-Commissions-Stance-on-South-Stream-in-Serbia-Still-Unknown.html
15/10/14
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Related:

• Κομισιόν προς Βελιγράδι: «Η Κατασκευή του South Stream θα Επηρεάσει Αρνητικά την Ενταξιακή Πορεία της Σερβίας»

• Duma urges Gazprom to consider expediency of gas transit via Ukraine to Europe

• Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said on Tuesday that all activities related to the South Stream gas pipeline project should be put on hold until it was brought in line with European legislation.

------------------------

• Έτινγκερ: Να αναθεωρήσει η Σερβία το συμβόλαιό της με τη Gazprom

• Gazprom: Η συμφωνία του South Stream υπερισχύει της ευρωπαϊκής νομοθεσίας

• Έτινγκερ: Παραβιάζουν την κοινοτική νομοθεσία οι συμφωνίες για τον South Stream

• Κομισιόν: Ακυρώνει όλες τις συμφωνίες για την κατασκευή του South Stream

China-built Danube bridge in Serbia to be up and running on time

The bridge spanning the Danube river, which is being built by a Chinese company in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, was to be completed in December as expected, Serbian deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said on Tuesday.

Mihajlovic said that the 1.5-km-long bridge will be open for traffic in December 2014, while in October 2015 the whole project including 21 km of access roads will be completed.

The bridge connects the Belgrade city municipalities of Zemun and Borca over the Danube is being built by the Chinese company, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).

Zhang Xiaoyuan, general director of the company's branch in Serbia, said that the works started in 2010 and "have advanced as planned so far, and the cooperation with Serbian government, city of Belgrade and the planners that worked on this project was excellent."

Li Manchang, Chinese ambassador to Serbia, expressed certainty that the bridge will be finished on time, adding that the "economic cooperation between Serbia and China will prove to be even more successful in the future." 
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
3/9/14
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• Chinese-built bridge in Serbia to open this year

Chinese-built bridge in Serbia to open this year

The Bridge over the Danube in Serbian capital, Belgrade, built by Chinese company CRBC would be open in December this year, Serbian Minister of Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic announced after inspecting the work progress with the Chinese ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang on Wednesday.

Li Manchang and Zorana Mihajlovic toured the building site on Wednesday to determine that works at the popularly called Chinese bridge that ought to connect Belgrade's municipalities of Zemun and Borca are going just as planned.

Construction progresses as planed and Serbian government expects that the bridge will be open by the end of December,? Mihajlovic said, adding that the subcontractors announced possibility of even finishing before deadline.

Once finished, the bridge will significantly influence reducing jams in Serbian capital by redirecting cargo transport from the city's centre, on a detour towards the main highway. She said that the connections of the future bridge with local roads will be finished during next year in a total length of 21 kilometers.

• The bridge over the Danube presents the second bridge over the European Union's longest river on its flow through the Serbian capital.

• Once finished, the new six-lane bridge will be 1.5 kilometers long, 30-meter wide and will overarch the Danube at an altitude of 23 meters.

Li said that the bridge over the Danube, popularly called Chinese bridge is just one of the many large infrastructural projects between Serbia and China, and expressed his confidence that the construction will meet the deadlines.

He added that that he hopes that many more large projects will be realized by Chinese companies in Serbia.
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
7/8/14

“Greek Seas” exhibition opens in Belgrade

BELGRADE -- A photo exhibition originally staged by Athens’ Benaki Museum, “Greek Seas - A Photographic Journey Through Time”, has been opened in Belgrade...

The event is hosted at the hall of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS).

The exhibition is a cultural event marking the end of Greece's EU presidency and was opened by Greek Ambassador to Serbia Constantine Economides late on Wednesday.

Economides said that the reason why photographs of the sea had been chosen to represent Greece was because naval policy had been a key priority for the country during its EU presidency.


The exhibition was organized by the Embassy of Greece in Belgrade, in cooperation with the National Bank of Serbia, the Serbian government’s European Integration Office and the Hellenic Foundation for Culture Center in Belgrade.

European Integration Office Deputy Director Srđan Majstorović said that it had been a great honor to take part in the organization of an exhibition presenting the country with which the Serbian nation fostered long and friendly ties.

“The Greek presidency of the EU was truly a historical moment for Serbia’s European integration, as the first intergovernmental conference was held during this time, and that will leave an indelible mark in relations between the two states,” said Majstorovic.

Aliki Tsirgialou, manager Photographic Archive of the Benaki Museum, Fani Constantinou, former manager of the museum, and Costis Antoniadis, professor of photography at the Technological Educational Institution of Athens (TEI), curated the exhibition.

It showcases a total of 70 images of the Greek sea, broken into several time periods, and will be opened until 24 June.
Sources: Tanjug  - B92
12/6/14

La Serbie a commémoré les 15 ans des bombardements de l'OTAN

Des cérémonies commémoratives se sont tenues lundi en Serbie à l'occasion du 15e anniversaire du début des bombardements de ce pays par l'OTAN lancés pour contraindre Belgrade de cesser la répression contre les séparatistes albanais du Kosovo.
A Belgrade, les proches des personnes tuées pendant les bombardements ont notamment déposé des fleurs devant le monument aux 16 employés de la société de télé- et radiodiffusion RTS qui ont péri le 23 avril 1999 lors d'une frappe aérienne, ainsi que devant le monument aux enfants victimes des bombardements.

Le ministre serbe de la Défense Nebojsa Rodic, les représentants de l'armée, de la police et d'associations d'anciens combattants ont visité un mémorial à Vranje, dans le sud-est de la Serbie, où l'OTAN avait utilisé beaucoup de munitions à l'uranium appauvri.

Le président serbe Tomislav Nikolic a dirigé une cérémonie à Varvarin, à 180 km au sud de Belgrade où 10 personnes avaient été tuées et des dizaines blessées lors d'une frappe aérienne de l'OTAN en mai 1999.

• Des cérémonies de dépôt de fleurs ont également eu lieu à Novi Sad, à Nis, à Raska, à Krusevac, ainsi que dans plusieurs localités du Kosovo à majorité serbe dont Leposavic et Kosovska Mitrovica.

Les Albanais du Kosovo, qui ont proclamé unilatéralement leur indépendance par rapport à Belgrade en février 2008, considèrent la date du lancement des bombardements comme un jour de leur victoire. Le premier ministre kosovar Hashim Thaci a félicité lundi les habitants du Kosovo à cette occasion. "Aujourd'hui est un grand jour pour la république du Kosovo, pour les citoyens du Kosovo et tous les Albanais. C'est l'anniversaire du début des bombardements par l'OTAN du territoire serbe", a indiqué M.Thaci. Il a remercié les Etats-Unis, l'UE et l'OTAN pour leur soutien.

En 1999, les forces de l'OTAN ont procédé à des bombardements de la Yougoslavie sans le feu vert du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, se rangeant du côté des Albanais du Kosovo qui réclamaient l'indépendance de cette province serbe par rapport à Belgrade. Les frappes aériennes, qui ont duré 78 jours, ont fait de 2.500 à 3.500 morts dont 89 enfants et 12.500 blessés parmi les civils, ainsi que 1.031 morts et plus de 5.000 blessés parmi les militaires et policiers serbes, selon différentes sources. L'OTAN a cessé les bombardements après l'adoption d'une résolution du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU sur le retrait des militaires serbes du Kosovo et le déploiement de la Mission d'administration intérimaire des Nations unies (MINUK) et de la KFOR, force armée multinationale sous commandement de l'OTAN, dans cette province.
Selon l'ONU, de 200.000 à 230.000 Serbes, Monténégrins, Roms et représentants d'autres ethnies non-albanophones ont quitté le Kosovo après son passage sous le contrôle de la MINUK et de la KFOR.
fr.ria.ru
24/3/14

Έτινγκερ: Να αναθεωρήσει η Σερβία το συμβόλαιό της με τη Gazprom

Εάν η Σερβία θέλει να αποφύγει τυχόν μελλοντικό "πάγωμα" των επικείμενων ενταξιακών της διαπραγματεύσεων με την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, τότε πρέπει να αναθεωρήσει το συμβόλαιό της με τη Gazprom και τον South Stream, διεμήνυσε ο Ευρωπαίος Επίτροπος, αρμόδιος για την ενέργεια, Γκίντερ Έτινγκερ, μιλώντας χτες στις Βρυξέλλες σε forum για την ενεργειακή πολιτικής της ΕΕ.

«Οι ενταξιακές διαπραγματεύσεις της Σερβίας με την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, που αναμένεται να ξεκινήσουν περίπου την ίδια περίοδο μ’ αυτές μεταξύ ΕΕ και Ρωσίας για τα αναθεωρημένα συμβόλαια, είναι δύο διασυνδεόμενες, παράλληλες διαδικασίες» υπογράμμισε ο Επίτροπος.
Η Σερβία είναι μέλος της ευρωπαϊκής ενεργειακής κοινότητας και θα πρέπει να σεβαστεί τους κανόνες της αγοράς, σημείωσε ο Έτινγκερ.

Τα συμβόλαια που έχει η Gazprom με έξι μέλη της ΕΕ και τη Σερβία παραβιάζουν τους κοινοτικούς κανονισμούς κι ενδέχεται να οδηγήσουν σε οικολογική καταστροφή, επεσήμανε.

Ο κ. Έτινγκερ ανέφερε ακόμη ότι θα συναντηθεί με τον υπουργό Ενέργειας της Ρωσίας Αλεξάντερ Νόβακ εκ μέρους των έξι κρατών- μελών της ΕΕ προκειμένου να ξεκινήσει διαπραγματεύσεις με για την αναθεώρηση των συμβολαίων τους με τη ρωσική εταιρεία.

Παρά το γεγονός ότι δεν είναι στο επίκεντρο του ζητήματος τώρα, η Σερβία θα πρέπει να φροντίσει ώστε να μην επιτρέψει, οι συνομιλίες της με την ΕΕ να "παγώσουν" κάποια στιγμή εξαιτίας του αγωγού South Stream, παρατήρησε ο Ευρωπαίος Επίτροπος.

Η ΕΕ δεν αντιτίθεται στην κατασκευή του South Stream, απλώς επιμένει στο να ακολουθούνται από όλους οι κανόνες, κατέληξε.

energypress.gr

19/12/13

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ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ:

• Gazprom: Η συμφωνία του South Stream υπερισχύει της ευρωπαϊκής νομοθεσίας

• Έτινγκερ: Παραβιάζουν την κοινοτική νομοθεσία οι συμφωνίες για τον South Stream

• Κομισιόν: Ακυρώνει όλες τις συμφωνίες για την κατασκευή του South Stream

• Oettinger: Serbia will have to revise contract with Gazprom 

 

BRUSSELS - European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger has said that Serbia will have to change its contract with Gazprom to match EU regulations if it wants to avoid bringing its accession talks with the EU to a halt.

Serbia's talks with the EU, which should start at the same time as the EU-Russia talks on revising contracts, are two connected and parallel processes, Oettinger stated.

Serbia is a member of the European energy community and has to accept its market rules, he said at a forum on the EU's energy policy in Brussels on Wednesday.

The contracts Gazprom has with six EU members and Serbia are in violation of EU regulations and could lead to ecological damage, he pointed out.

Oettinger noted he will meet with Russia's Minister of Energy Alexander Novak on behalf of the six EU members to start the negotiations on revising their contracts with Gazprom.

Serbia's talks with the EU and the EU-Russia talks on revising the contracts, which should start at the same time, are two connected and parallel processes, Oettinger told Tanjug.

Although it is not in the centre of the issue at the moment, Serbia should take care not to allow its talks with the EU to grind to a halt at one point because of South Stream, he remarked.

The EU is not against the construction of South Stream, but simply insists on following the rules that go for everyone, the commissioner underscored.

http://www.tanjug.rs/news/110394/oettinger--serbia-will-have-to-revise-contract-with-gazprom.htm

19/12/13

Granting national significance status to South Stream in Serbia highly important

The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Dusan Bajatovic, Director General of state-owned Srbijagas. 

The parties discussed the issues of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector and long-term natural gas supplies.

The meeting paid special attention to the progress with South Stream and underlined the importance of granting the national significance status to the project in Serbia.

Background

Gazprom supplies natural gas to Serbia on the basis of annual supplements to the contract effective from 2006. Gazprom is expected to supply Serbia with some 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas in 2012.
Srbijagas is a state-owned company dealing with natural gas transmission, distribution and storage in Serbia.
With a view to diversify the natural gas export routes Gazprom is implementing the project for construction of a gas pipeline running under the Black Sea to the countries of Southern and Central Europe – the South Stream project. In January 2008 Russia and Serbia signed the Umbrella Intergovernmental Agreement for the South Stream project.
In October 2009 Gazprom Export, Gazprom Germania and Srbijagas signed the Agreement on setting up a joint venture for the Banatski Dvor UGS facility.
In November 2009 the South Stream Serbia AG joint project company was registered. Gazprom holds a 51 per cent stake in the company and Srbijagas – a 49 per cent stake.
On November 21, 2011 the Banatski Dvor UGS facility was inaugurated. It is one of the largest gas storages in Southeastern Europe. The UGS working gas volume makes up 450 million cubic meters, maximum deliverability – 5 million cubic meters per day. Besides, Banatski Dvor has a potential for further expansion. The UGS facility enhances the security of Russian gas export to Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On October 29, 2012 the General Shareholders Meeting of South Stream Serbia AG, the joint project company of Gazprom and Srbijagas, approved the final investment decision for the South Stream project in Serbia.
http://www.gazprom.com/press/news/2012/december/article152808/?from=rss
26/12/12 
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*(map after the necessary correction with the name "FYROM".  

GREECE recognised this country with the name "FYROM")

 

U.N. Court Frees Former Leader of Kosovo

PARIS — A United Nations war crimes tribunal on Thursday acquitted the former prime minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, for the second time of torturing and killing Serb civilians while he was a commander of the NATO-backed Kosovo Liberation Army during its fight for independence in 1999. 

Two of his comrades, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, were also acquitted, although Mr. Brahimaj has already served a six-year sentence for torture handed down in an earlier trial. The judges ordered the three men released immediately.

Supporters cheered and applauded in the courtroom’s public gallery in The Hague, where proceedings were broadcast via videostream.

The men were expected to return later in the day to Kosovo, where Mr. Haradinaj’s supporters — even before the verdict — said they hoped he would return to politics. In Serbia, which is involved in crucial talks with Kosovo, a former Serbian province before the war, the decision was expected to provoke a new wave of angry reactions.

Earlier this month, the tribunal enraged the Belgrade government and many Serbs, when an appeals chamber threw out the convictions of two Croatian generals, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac. They had led a 1995 military campaign that recaptured Serb-occupied Croatian land and drove more than 150,000 Serbs from Croatia.

The overturning of the Croatian and now the Kosovo convictions are seen as serious setbacks for the prosecution. It has said in recent days that it will seek a review of the Croatian appeals ruling, in which two of the five judges wrote unusually sharp dissents. 

.nytimes.com

29/11/12 
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ΚΚΕ: Καμία έκπληξη από την αθώωση του αρχηγού του UCK στη Χάγη

Σε σχόλιό του, για την αθώωση του πρώην αρχηγού του UCK και πρωθυπουργού του Κοσσόβου Ραμούς Χαραντινάι, το Γραφείο Τύπου της ΚΕ του ΚΚΕ σημειώνει:

 «Το Διεθνές Ποινικό Δικαστήριο της Χάγης αθώωσε τον διοικητή του UCK Ρ. Χαραντινάι, γιατί δεν βρήκε, όπως λέει, επαρκή στοιχεία για τις δολοφονίες – προβοκάτσιες, για το εμπόριο όπλων, ναρκωτικών κλπ.! Καμία έκπληξη.


Η έκπληξη θα ήταν αυτό το διορισμένο από τις ΗΠΑ και την ΕΕ δικαστήριο να έβλεπε τα κραυγαλέα εγκλήματα και να έβγαζε καταδικαστική απόφαση. Αυτά είναι τα όργανα τα οποία οι υποστηρικτές του καπιταλισμού τα παρουσιάζουν ως ανεξάρτητα και δίκαια». 
.902.gr
29/11/12
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Is South Stream too hard to handle for Gazprom?

The South Stream pipeline will be built via Bulgaria, ending in the north of Italy. The Russian gas giant has managed to obtain the consent of all the countries, through the territories of which the pipeline is going to be built. The construction may begin as early as in December of this year. Experts point out that the financial requirements of the project may undermine Gazprom's financial situation.

Bulgaria was the last to join the project. Last week, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, and Bulgarian Energy Holding CEO, Michael Andonov, in the presence of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, signed the final investment agreement. The document has approved the construction of the Bulgarian section of South Stream gas pipeline.

The route of the pipeline has thus been finalized. The output from the Black Sea is planned for Bulgaria, then it is Serbia that serves as a manager for former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina and also Croatia, where auxiliary branches of the pipeline will be built. Next on the route are Hungary and Slovenia. Italy will be the end point.

Just a day before, Russia and Slovenia also arranged the final investment agreement. According to the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller, the volume of investment in the construction of the pipeline in Slovenia is estimated at $1 billion. It was earlier assumed that the final point of the South Stream project could be Austria. However, the pipeline will go through Italy, where it will reach the northern town of Tarvisio.

Bulgaria will receive from Gazprom a discount of 20 percent on gas from January 1, 2013 for ten years. The preferential conditions stipulate that Sofia will buy about 2.9 billion cubic meters of gas a year, but may reduce the extraction by 20 percent without any penalties from Gazprom.

On November 15, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Serbia asked for a multi-million loan from the Russian Federation. Belgrade gave concrete numbers: 300 thousand dollars this year, and the rest - in 2013.

Bulgaria will not spend anything on the construction of the pipeline through its territory. It was originally planned that Sofia and Gazprom would finance 30 percent of the Bulgarian part of the project together, whereas the remaining 70 percent will be borrowed. However, Bulgaria claimed that it could not afford it. As a result, Gazprom took care of the Bulgarian share in financing, and Bulgaria will provide free transit in exchange till 2030. The scheme seems unreliable, to say the least.

"In the proposed scheme, the more expensive the pipeline construction is, the longer Bulgaria will be deprived of transit fees. In practice, South Stream will be built at the expense of Sofia's lost transit revenues," says Valentin Stoyanov, the former advisor to the commission on energy policy in the Parliament of Bulgaria.

It is unclear what will make Bulgaria to follow the agreement after the launch of the pipeline. No need to go to Baba Vanga to predict that Bulgaria will feel robbed after the Bulgarian part of the pipeline is launched (in 2016, according to schedule).

In the case of Nord Stream, everything looks more or less certain. There is a supplier - Russia, Germany is the buyer and the manager in one person. As for South Stream, there are too many transit countries. One should bear in mind the fact that Bulgaria, as well as former Yugoslavian republics, often dances to the tune of Berlin, although it looks like a sovereign dance.

The cost of the project is growing by leaps and bounds, but Gazprom can only careless. A month ago, the number was 15.5 billion euros. Later, after all specifications and configurations, the price has increased to 16 billion.

As experts point out, Gazprom will spend about 10 billion euros more on expanding the unified gas supply system on the way to Russia's Anapa, where South Stream will dive under the water.

It is unlikely that such a sharp increase in capital expenditure in the long term will show a positive impact on the financial stability of Gazprom. All this is happening against the background of falling consumption in Europe.

"The main financial result of the construction of South Stream is a greater credit load for Gazprom. The net debt of the monopoly already exceeds 161.882 billion rubles. One would like to find out how Gazprom is going to give these loans back under the conditions of falling gas prices. Almost all European buyers of the Russian monopoly received substantial discounts in 2013. There is also the matter of a revolution in alternative energy - many European countries already receive up to a half of the energy balance from renewable sources," leading financial analyst of Kalita Finance, Alex Vyazovsky, told Pravda.Ru.

Gazprom increases its interest in European sales and energy companies that supply gas to end consumers. The need to ensure stabile supplies grows. As a result of the asset swap with BASF, Gazprom became the owner of three distribution companies in Europe. After the failure of the deal with RWE, this is definitely some positive news for the company. In addition, last year Gazprom bought Envacom Service, which specializes in the production of clean energy. The client base of the company makes up 500 thousand people. In addition to the retail market of Germany, Gazprom is presented in respective segments of the UK, France and the Benelux countries," Gregory Birg, an analyst with Investkafe said.

Vitaly Salnik

Pravda.Ru

20/11/12

Ντόμπρεφ: Στα τέλη του 2013 η διασύνδεση φυσικού αερίου Βουλγαρίας-Ελλάδας

Ο υπουργός Ενέργειας της Βουλγαρίας, Ντελιάν Ντόμπρεφ, δήλωσε ότι η κυβέρνηση θα επισπεύσει τις προσπάθειές της για την διασύνδεση φυσικού αερίου με τις γειτονικές χώρες, ελπίζοντας ότι τα έργα σύνδεσης με την Ελλάδα και την Τουρκία θα ολοκληρωθούν μέσα στο 2013.

Την Κυριακή, η διαχειρίστρια του βουλγαρικού δικτύου, Bulgartransgaz, παρουσίασε σχέδιο ανάπτυξης με βάση το οποίο αναμένει ένα έτος καθυστέρηση στα συγκεκριμένα έργα, αλλά ο υπουργός θεωρεί ότι αυτή είναι μια μάλλον συντηρητική εκτίμηση:
«Η Bulgartransgaz παρουσίασε απλά ένα σχέδιο. Εμείς πάντως εργαζόμαστε για την επίσπευση των διασυνδέσεων ώστε να είναι έτοιμες στα τέλη του 2013».

http://www.energia.gr/article.asp?art_id=62262 
http://energy-engineer.blogspot.gr/2012/10/2013.html
1/9/12
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• Bulgaria delays gas links with neighbors to end-2014

• Η Κομοτηνή στον παγκόσμιο ενεργειακό χάρτη 

   

  [1] Bulgaria Vows to Build Gas Links with Greece, Turkey by End-2013

  Bulgaria will make up for delays in constructing its gas interconnector links with Greece and Turkey, Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev has promised.
  On Sunday, the country's state network operator Bulgartransgaz revealed it expected a one year delay in the project until the end of 2014.
  However, Dobrev has stated that the Bulgartransgaz estimate was too cvonservetive.
  "Bulgartransgaz presented only a plan. We are however working to speed up the interconnector links and have them operational by the end of 2013," he has told Reuters.
  The construction of the two gas links has been delayed by technical hurdles with Greece and slow negotiations with Turkey.
  Bulgaria's 25-km gas interconnector with Romania will be completed and functional by the end of May 2013, while the country's gas interconnector with Serbia is scheduled to be ready in 2015.
  Bulgaria moved to link its natural gas grid to those of its neighbors after the January 2009 gas war between Russia and Ukraine, which cut off the Russian gas supplies to Bulgaria for full three weeks leaving it without natural gas in the middle of the winter.
  In February 2011, the European Council decided that each EU member state should have at least two sources of natural gas and electricity by 2014 in order to avoid a repetition of the Russian-Ukrainian gas crisis.
  http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=143699
  1/10/12