Russian official: S. Stream delays out of question

BRUSSELS Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov has said that Serbia should adhere to the bilateral agreement on South Stream with Russia. This should happen despite objections that are coming from the EU, he said, and underscored that a halt to works on that gas pipeline is out of the question. Russian official: S. Stream delays out of question Serbia should stick to the intergovernmental agreement, Chizhov told Tanjug after a discussion on the EU-Russia relations held at the European Policy Center in Brussels on Monday. During the discussion, Chizhov mentioned the dispute over South Stream as one of the points at which the interests of Moscow and Brussels clashed after the European Commission concluded that the agreements Russia had signed with six EU member states are not in line with EU regulations. The Russian ambassador said that Moscow's position is that EU regulations, formulated in the so-called Third Energy Package, cannot be the single criteria for determining the regularity of the gas pipeline. South Stream starts in Russia, goes through the Black Sea that is under no one's jurisdiction, and then across a number of countries out of which only one is not an EU member state - Serbia, he noted. "Maybe, the Third Energy Package should be harmonized with the bilateral agreements with the countries, and not vice versa," Chizhov said, underscoring that a halt to the South Stream construction is out of the question. The Russian ambassador said that Moscow is looking forward to negotiations with the EU on the topic, noting that Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger will visit Moscow at the end of the week, and that South Stream will also be the topic of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels on January 28. The six EU member states engaged in the South Stream project authorized Oettinger in late 2013 to negotiate on their behalf with Moscow on the harmonization of the bilateral agreements on South Stream with the Third Energy Package. The package should also come into effect in Serbia in 2015 in accordance with the Stabilization and Association Agreement. In his earlier statement to Tanjug, Oettinger said that Serbia will have to review the bilateral agreement with Russia so as to dovetail it with EU regulations. Works on South Stream begin in Serbia (Beta, file) Tanjug

Russian official: S. Stream delays out of question

Serbia should stick to the intergovernmental agreement, Chizhov told Tanjug after a discussion on the EU-Russia relations held at the European Policy Center in Brussels on Monday.

During the discussion, Chizhov mentioned the dispute over South Stream as one of the points at which the interests of Moscow and Brussels clashed after the European Commission concluded that the agreements Russia had signed with six EU member states are not in line with EU regulations.

The Russian ambassador said that Moscow's position is that EU regulations, formulated in the so-called Third Energy Package, cannot be the single criteria for determining the regularity of the gas pipeline.

South Stream starts in Russia, goes through the Black Sea that is under no one's jurisdiction, and then across a number of countries out of which only one is not an EU member state - Serbia, he noted.

"Maybe, the Third Energy Package should be harmonized with the bilateral agreements with the countries, and not vice versa," Chizhov said, underscoring that a halt to the South Stream construction is out of the question.

The Russian ambassador said that Moscow is looking forward to negotiations with the EU on the topic, noting that Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger will visit Moscow at the end of the week, and that South Stream will also be the topic of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels on January 28.

The six EU member states engaged in the South Stream project authorized Oettinger in late 2013 to negotiate on their behalf with Moscow on the harmonization of the bilateral agreements on South Stream with the Third Energy Package.

The package should also come into effect in Serbia in 2015 in accordance with the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

In his earlier statement to Tanjug, Oettinger said that Serbia will have to review the bilateral agreement with Russia so as to dovetail it with EU regulations.