Bulgaria, Greece, Russia finalize oil pipeline agreement

Bulgaria, Greece and Russia on Wednesday finally signed an agreement on cooperation in the construction and operation of Burgas-Alexandrupolis oil pipeline after lingering for more than 14 years, reported BTA news agency.

According to Bulgaria's Regional Minister Asen Gagauzov, the three sides will sign the agreement on the project on March 6 or 7 in Athens, capital of Greece, while the document signed on Wednesday is a protocol on finalizing the texts of the three variants of the agreement, the agency said.

Kalin Rogachev, Bulgarian deputy minister of regional development and public works, Andrei Dementiev, Russian deputy minister of industry and energy, and Nikos Stefanou, general secretary of Greece's Development Ministry initialed the document in Bourgas (on Black Sea) earlier on Wednesday.

The agreement aims at specifying the forms of cooperation between the three countries in the construction of the oil pipeline with an initial capacity of 35 million tonnes annually and with an option to increase the capacity to 50 million tonnes per year.

The total length of the oil pipeline stands at 280 kilometers, 155 kilometers of which in Bulgarian territory. The pipeline will be owned by an international project company, which is being established by project participants.

Source:Xinhua