In particular, Deutsche Welle quoted Bulgarian expert Krasen Stanchev as saying that the idea that Russian gas can be stored in Bulgaria and then be transported onward to other countries holds no water.
"Russian gas deliveries bypassing Ukraine is something that will be very problematic for the European Commission. In addition, neither the Russian giant Gazprom nor the Bulgarian Energy Holding is now able to finance such a project," Stanchev said.
He also referred to the international economic sanctions imposed on Russia, which Stanchev said may complicate Gazprom's access to the capital market.
#Russia's @GazpromEN reports on Friday increase in y-o-y #gas sales to Europe in first 3 quarters. Profit rises too https://t.co/tdEcNLGc5P
— Sergio Matalucci (@SergioMatalucci) 15 января 2016
"All this comes against the backdrop of unusually low prices for oil and gas, which makes similar projects even less attractive," he said, questioning the Varna project's economic feasibility and major investors' interest in the project.
Deutsche Welle recalled that Sofia put forward the Varna gas hub project after Moscow scrapped the South Stream gas pipeline, intended to traverse the Black Sea to deliver Russian natural gas through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Italy and Austria.
Earlier, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov announced plans to create the country's gas distribution center, which he said will be the largest such hub in south-eastern and central Europe.
According to him, the Balkan facility in Varna will turn Bulgaria into a "main international gas transit hub."
