The road map for the South Stream gas pipeline via Bulgaria will be finally coordinated on July 8, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on Tuesday.
"By agreeing on controversial issues, we raised the profitability of the South Stream project for Bulgaria two or threefold," Borisov said, commenting on talks with Russian First Deputy Premier Viktor Zubkov, who visited Bulgaria on Monday.
"On Thursday, experts will arrange the final details of the road map... and the pipeline will start work by 2015," the Bulgarian premier said.
The volume of gas to be transferred via the territory of Bulgaria was raised by 63 billion cubic meters during the talks, Borisov added.
"We will make the project profitable for both countries," Zubkov said.
Borisov announced shortly after taking office last summer that his country was suspending several energy projects with Russia.
This June, he announced his country's withdrawal from the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project with Russia and Greece and froze the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, citing a lack of investment for the latter and environmental concerns over the former.
However, Borisov later said he had been misunderstood and an assessment on the environmental impact of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline would decide whether the project goes ahead.
Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom said in mid-June it was likely to replace Bulgaria with Romania in the South Stream pipeline network after Bulgaria halted the projects.
SOFIA, July 6 (RIA Novosti)
