No Compensation for Bulgaria After South Stream Project Closure: EU Source

BRUSSELS, December 2 (Sputnik) — European Commission will not give Bulgaria any compensation for the cancellation of the South Stream project as it failed to meet EU requirements, a source in the European Commission told RIA Novosti Tuesday.

Spokesperson of the European Commission on energy issues Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told journalists earlier that there were no legal grounds for compensation to Bulgaria.

On Tuesday, the European Commission's source confirmed to RIA Novosti that the South Stream project was deemed to contravene European Union regulations.

On December 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was not willing to continue with the implementation of the South Stream project in light of the European Commission's "non-constructive" stance on the matter. The Gazprom CEO later announced that Russia was terminating the project due to the EU opposition to it and had no plans to revive it.

The European Commission has taken a critical stance on the project. Brussels has long endeavored to hamper the project, saying it violates the European Union's Third Energy Package, which stipulates that pipelines in its member countries cannot belong to natural gas producers. Moscow insisted that the construction of the pipeline does not contradict the regulations.

In 2012 Russian energy giant Gazprom announced the construction of a South Stream pipeline. Its route was projected to start in southern Russia, go through the Black Sea, come ashore in Bulgaria and continue to Serbia, dividing into several branches and travelling further into Europe. South Stream was expected to be fully operational by 2018. In August, Bulgaria suspended operations on the project, saying that they did not meet European Commission requirements.