Sergei Prikhodko said economic cooperation between the countries is "long-term and balanced, and involves not only traditional areas, but also the hi-tech, transportation and tourism industries."
Russia is the leading exporter of goods to Bulgaria and is second on the list of Sofia's trade partners in terms of the overall bilateral trade, after Germany. In the first 10 months of 2007, Russian-Bulgarian trade totaled $3.4 billion, up 22% year-on-year.
"Our bilateral economic cooperation is based on the implementation of joint energy projects, such as the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline and the South Stream gas pipeline," the Kremlin official said.
On March 15, 2007, Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece signed a deal on a pipeline to carry Russian oil via the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas and Greece's Alexandroupolis on the Aegean, as an alternative route to bypass the congested Bosporus.
Once completed, the pipeline will pump 35 million metric tons of oil a year (257.25 million bbl), a volume that could eventually be increased to 50 million metric tons (367.5 million bbl).
The Russian-Bulgarian agreement on a nuclear power plant in the town of Belene on the bank of the Danube has been approved by the European Union. Russia's state-owned nuclear equipment monopoly, Atomstroyexport, which won a tender in 2006, is to build two reactors at the Balkan state's second nuclear power plant. The cost of the project is estimated at around 4 billion euros (around $6 billion).
Prikhodko said Russia and Bulgaria would also sign a deal to build a train ferry system linking Russia's Kavkaz port in the Kerch Strait between the Black and Azov seas, to Bulgaria's Varna port in order to facilitate cargo movement.
He also said more agreements in various areas could be signed during Putin's visit to the country, timed to coincide with celebrations of the 130th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule by a force led by Russia's Tsar Alexander II. Bulgarians referred the Alexander II as the Tsar Liberator.
Putin will also attend a ceremony to open the cultural program 'Year of Russia in Bulgaria'.
Russia's energy deals with Bulgaria and other south European states - including the South Stream natural gas pipeline to be build under the Black Sea to supply 30 billion cubic meters of gas to the EU annually - have triggered concern in some parts of Europe over growing energy dependence on Moscow.
Putin reiterated on Thursday that Russian-Bulgarian energy projects have strategic importance for regional and European energy security.
"Joint projects such as the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream gas pipeline fully meet the long-term national interests of Russia and our European partners, including Bulgaria," he said in an article published in the Bulgarian media ahead of his visit to the country.
He also expressed his hope that Bulgaria's commitments to new allies would not become a barrier to the development of bilateral relations. Bulgaria, a former member of the Warsaw Pact, joined NATO in 2004.
"We remain realists and respect the motives by which your country [Bulgaria] was guided when it chose a system to guarantee its national security," Putin said in the article.
"Our main concern is that Bulgaria does not try to protect its interests at the expense of the security interests of other countries," he said.
