S. Stream "sobering for Serbia," says German paper

Any sobering lesson that shows big powers have no friends but only interests, is valuable. As history slowly repeats itself, the south slavs will eventually realize that no one cares for them; ultimately, their survival is dependent on their mutual cooperation.

It added that "it seemed like Serbia made a good job when it in 2008 sold the oil company NIS to Russia's Gazprom," Germany's Deutsche Welle website in Serbian is quoting the daily.

Hmm, more like Russia made a very good job getting NIS for peanuts (1/5 of the market value - unbelievable) and outsmarted Serbia by making the South Stream deal independent from the NIS sale, without even a compensation when it's not realized.

I am not aware of this market evaluation of 1/5th of its sale price, so I will reserve comment. If you can, please cite your source. As we know that the deal was realized, and paid for months after the agreement during the great recession. Whatever the market high value was, on the day the deals were closed, NIS was not in a profitable position and the Serbian Government needed the cash. Now it makes money, it is finally being run properly and corruption is limited to the point where it does not leak out all profit.

Beyond that what would Russia have to compensate Serbia for, Russia was going to pay for the entire project, Serbia and Bulgaria only had to give them permission to build. Brussels said no, and the Serbian and Bulgarian governments acted in the interests of Brussels and against the interest of their own peoples. Mr Putin shrugged, he is not selling pop tarts, he is selling energy to Europeans and there are more ways to reach them than through Serbia and Bulgaria.

Blame Brussels and their pet goats in Belgrade and Sofia.

It was noted by Boris Tadic recently that the NIS sale was the best that they could get at the time. NO ONE was interested in NIS except Gazprom. Serbia really had no other options for their deal. Blaming EU for the cancellation of the project is appropriate. It means that the energy independence for southern Balkans and its growth is going to be less of a reality and they are going to be more dependent on Germany/Brussels UE. That means that your beloved Kosovo i Metohija will also loose out on access to stable energy as well and grow to a be a more prosperous nation, due to their association with Serbia. The cancellation of the deal really isn't good news. Bulgaria and Brussels could care less tho.

It was noted by Boris Tadic recently that the NIS sale was the best that they could get at the time. NO ONE was interested in NIS except Gazprom. Serbia really had no other options for their deal. Blaming EU for the cancellation of the project is appropriate. It means that the energy independence for southern Balkans and its growth is going to be less of a reality and they are going to be more dependent on Germany/Brussels UE. That means that your beloved Kosovo i Metohija will also loose out on access to stable energy as well and grow to a be a more prosperous nation, due to their association with Serbia. The cancellation of the deal really isn't good news. Bulgaria and Brussels could care less tho.
(Radovan, 8 December 2014 16:02)

Rodovan, I hate to burst your bubble however the governments of Albania & of Kosova are working full steam ahead to insure that they will have a generous supply of energy for their future! Albania is a large electric producer in Southern Europe, although it will have to update most of its hydroelectric facility's, large reserves of petroleum have also been discoverd!
http://www.bankerspetroleum.com/albania/bankers-albania
Although considered dirty & primitive, Kosova for now can depend on its enormous amount of lignite, that has sufficient sufficient reserves for another 100-200 years of electric production!
It would be wise on Serbia's end to start acting more European, or she could easily lose herself in total darkness!

"Although considered dirty & primitive, Kosova for now can depend on its enormous amount of lignite, that has sufficient sufficient reserves for another 100-200 years of electric production!" @ Rocky,
The same lignite that rests on public lands that the Kosovars can't extract but Wesley Clark was so willing to do it for you? or was it Madeline Albright? Do you really think that Kosovo is going to join forces with Albania to become an energy powerhouse?

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world.php?yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=08&nav_id=92498
In fact all the EU has to do with the pipeline is that it demanded from Russia that competitors have access to the pipes in the transit countries - as envisaged by European law," writes Suddeutsche Zeitung."

No surprise from the rabidly anti-Serb newspaper being economical with the truth.

The simple fact is that Brussels retroactively applied new rules to an intra-European project, NOT a pure EU project as political means to control Russia in the EU's own 'back yard'. The proof comes from Brussels itself which cannot backtrack fast enough.*

It is a classic Mafia shake down attempt. You pay for it, we control it and decide how much profit you make. Unfortunately there are people who still think that Brussels produces unadulterated gold out of every orifice.

As for Russia, it had every intention of going through with the project. How is it that every other state involved in South Stream told Brussels to f*&k off except Bulgaria? To simply blame Russia for the projects failure is simply childish and naive.

* euractiv - Juncker says South Stream pipeline can still be built
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/energy/juncker-says-south-stream-pipeline-can-still-be-built-310614

And for those with short memories, look at your own comments here:
B92: "Europe will beg for South Stream to be built"
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/business.php?yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=02&nav_id=92430

It is also very sobering to find out that the Juncker from the EU said today that South Stream can still go ahead. Europe has a real energy problem and Russia annoucing that they would stop South Stream is just power politics. Russia is just making it known that they can hurt European societies and economies. It is all just geopolitics.

This South Stream project failure proves the Russians need the EURO cash more than the Europeans need Russian gas.

NIS sold for 1/5th of its value to Gazprom. This is sobering!!!
When I protested that NIS value was north of 2 billion everyone here was so exicted with how Russia was coming to Serbia's rescue and how Putin was helping by not recognizing Kosovo and other rubbish.
Maybe we will never know, but I have no doubt that Gazprom paid some big money to our politician to get such a deal. What else do you expect from mother Russia, a corrupt state run by gangsters. The only thing we have in common with those people is religion, we do more trade with Albania than Russia, so sober up and dont get bilnded by nationalist propaganda.

Ill save all of you time and the trouble of writing what this article really sums up and proves.

The Serbian people are DUMB DUMB DUMB. Dumber than a box of rocks.

The difference between stupidy and genius is that genius has its limits. Serbia is really trying to show off and brag that they can take stupidity to the next level!! LOL!!

Serbia sold herself too cheaply and the put all her eggs in one Russian basket.

Serbia can demand to be re embursed for full value if her past gas company sale to Russia but only after compensateing Croatia,Bosnia and Kosova for war reparations.

slavic unity ha ha ha.....I am loving it :)

This goes to show you that Serbia is that desperate that they would cut their nose to spite their face by under self just to get a promise of a Russian veto against Kosova membership.

After Russia suffers continued financial losses everyone will witness one additional requirement Russia would have to make and that is Recognition of non- Slavic Kosova.

professional losers they are but Ari, sj and Peggy and other ignorants will spin this as somehow benefiting Serbia.

EU Dude,
Well noticed that rules came after the South Stream announcements. In fact from the beginning it was obvious they were specifically written for South Stream. Additional proof is that TAP (Trans - Adriatic Pipeline) project was recently approved where infamous Third Energy Package was blatantly ignored.
Rule that they wanted "Gasprom" to abide to, is that you can't be owner of the infrastructure (Pipeline) and gas supplier in the same time.
One of the things that happened with TAP is that Azerbaijan's state - owned gas company SOCAR purchased Greek transmission system operator DEFSA that will become part of TAP. Nobody objected to SOCAR being both gas supplier and owner of infrastructure...
Norwegian state - owned STATOIL has almost 50% of "Shah Deniz II" gas field (where gas for TAP will come) and Statoil is, also, 42.5% shareholder in TAP. Therefore , it's a supplier and owner of infrastructure.
But, there is no point talking about his anymore. The project have been cancelled, and conventional wisdom teaches us that it is a good idea, when horse dies, to dismount and continue on foot...
So, I don't see a point talking about South Stream any more...

Serbia sold herself too cheaply and the put all her eggs in one Russian basket.

Serbia can demand to be re embursed for full value if her past gas company sale to Russia but only after compensateing Croatia,Bosnia and Kosova for war reparations.

slavic unity ha ha ha.....I am loving it :)

It was noted by Boris Tadic recently that the NIS sale was the best that they could get at the time. NO ONE was interested in NIS except Gazprom. Serbia really had no other options for their deal. Blaming EU for the cancellation of the project is appropriate. It means that the energy independence for southern Balkans and its growth is going to be less of a reality and they are going to be more dependent on Germany/Brussels UE. That means that your beloved Kosovo i Metohija will also loose out on access to stable energy as well and grow to a be a more prosperous nation, due to their association with Serbia. The cancellation of the deal really isn't good news. Bulgaria and Brussels could care less tho.
(Radovan, 8 December 2014 16:02)

Rodovan, I hate to burst your bubble however the governments of Albania & of Kosova are working full steam ahead to insure that they will have a generous supply of energy for their future! Albania is a large electric producer in Southern Europe, although it will have to update most of its hydroelectric facility's, large reserves of petroleum have also been discoverd!
http://www.bankerspetroleum.com/albania/bankers-albania
Although considered dirty & primitive, Kosova for now can depend on its enormous amount of lignite, that has sufficient sufficient reserves for another 100-200 years of electric production!
It would be wise on Serbia's end to start acting more European, or she could easily lose herself in total darkness!

Ill save all of you time and the trouble of writing what this article really sums up and proves.

The Serbian people are DUMB DUMB DUMB. Dumber than a box of rocks.

The difference between stupidy and genius is that genius has its limits. Serbia is really trying to show off and brag that they can take stupidity to the next level!! LOL!!

NIS sold for 1/5th of its value to Gazprom. This is sobering!!!
When I protested that NIS value was north of 2 billion everyone here was so exicted with how Russia was coming to Serbia's rescue and how Putin was helping by not recognizing Kosovo and other rubbish.
Maybe we will never know, but I have no doubt that Gazprom paid some big money to our politician to get such a deal. What else do you expect from mother Russia, a corrupt state run by gangsters. The only thing we have in common with those people is religion, we do more trade with Albania than Russia, so sober up and dont get bilnded by nationalist propaganda.

This South Stream project failure proves the Russians need the EURO cash more than the Europeans need Russian gas.

This goes to show you that Serbia is that desperate that they would cut their nose to spite their face by under self just to get a promise of a Russian veto against Kosova membership.

After Russia suffers continued financial losses everyone will witness one additional requirement Russia would have to make and that is Recognition of non- Slavic Kosova.

professional losers they are but Ari, sj and Peggy and other ignorants will spin this as somehow benefiting Serbia.

It was noted by Boris Tadic recently that the NIS sale was the best that they could get at the time. NO ONE was interested in NIS except Gazprom. Serbia really had no other options for their deal. Blaming EU for the cancellation of the project is appropriate. It means that the energy independence for southern Balkans and its growth is going to be less of a reality and they are going to be more dependent on Germany/Brussels UE. That means that your beloved Kosovo i Metohija will also loose out on access to stable energy as well and grow to a be a more prosperous nation, due to their association with Serbia. The cancellation of the deal really isn't good news. Bulgaria and Brussels could care less tho.

It added that "it seemed like Serbia made a good job when it in 2008 sold the oil company NIS to Russia's Gazprom," Germany's Deutsche Welle website in Serbian is quoting the daily.

Hmm, more like Russia made a very good job getting NIS for peanuts (1/5 of the market value - unbelievable) and outsmarted Serbia by making the South Stream deal independent from the NIS sale, without even a compensation when it's not realized.

I am not aware of this market evaluation of 1/5th of its sale price, so I will reserve comment. If you can, please cite your source. As we know that the deal was realized, and paid for months after the agreement during the great recession. Whatever the market high value was, on the day the deals were closed, NIS was not in a profitable position and the Serbian Government needed the cash. Now it makes money, it is finally being run properly and corruption is limited to the point where it does not leak out all profit.

Beyond that what would Russia have to compensate Serbia for, Russia was going to pay for the entire project, Serbia and Bulgaria only had to give them permission to build. Brussels said no, and the Serbian and Bulgarian governments acted in the interests of Brussels and against the interest of their own peoples. Mr Putin shrugged, he is not selling pop tarts, he is selling energy to Europeans and there are more ways to reach them than through Serbia and Bulgaria.

Blame Brussels and their pet goats in Belgrade and Sofia.

"Although considered dirty & primitive, Kosova for now can depend on its enormous amount of lignite, that has sufficient sufficient reserves for another 100-200 years of electric production!" @ Rocky,
The same lignite that rests on public lands that the Kosovars can't extract but Wesley Clark was so willing to do it for you? or was it Madeline Albright? Do you really think that Kosovo is going to join forces with Albania to become an energy powerhouse?

It is also very sobering to find out that the Juncker from the EU said today that South Stream can still go ahead. Europe has a real energy problem and Russia annoucing that they would stop South Stream is just power politics. Russia is just making it known that they can hurt European societies and economies. It is all just geopolitics.

Any sobering lesson that shows big powers have no friends but only interests, is valuable. As history slowly repeats itself, the south slavs will eventually realize that no one cares for them; ultimately, their survival is dependent on their mutual cooperation.

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world.php?yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=08&nav_id=92498
In fact all the EU has to do with the pipeline is that it demanded from Russia that competitors have access to the pipes in the transit countries - as envisaged by European law," writes Suddeutsche Zeitung."

No surprise from the rabidly anti-Serb newspaper being economical with the truth.

The simple fact is that Brussels retroactively applied new rules to an intra-European project, NOT a pure EU project as political means to control Russia in the EU's own 'back yard'. The proof comes from Brussels itself which cannot backtrack fast enough.*

It is a classic Mafia shake down attempt. You pay for it, we control it and decide how much profit you make. Unfortunately there are people who still think that Brussels produces unadulterated gold out of every orifice.

As for Russia, it had every intention of going through with the project. How is it that every other state involved in South Stream told Brussels to f*&k off except Bulgaria? To simply blame Russia for the projects failure is simply childish and naive.

* euractiv - Juncker says South Stream pipeline can still be built
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/energy/juncker-says-south-stream-pipeline-can-still-be-built-310614

And for those with short memories, look at your own comments here:
B92: "Europe will beg for South Stream to be built"
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/business.php?yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=02&nav_id=92430

EU Dude,
Well noticed that rules came after the South Stream announcements. In fact from the beginning it was obvious they were specifically written for South Stream. Additional proof is that TAP (Trans - Adriatic Pipeline) project was recently approved where infamous Third Energy Package was blatantly ignored.
Rule that they wanted "Gasprom" to abide to, is that you can't be owner of the infrastructure (Pipeline) and gas supplier in the same time.
One of the things that happened with TAP is that Azerbaijan's state - owned gas company SOCAR purchased Greek transmission system operator DEFSA that will become part of TAP. Nobody objected to SOCAR being both gas supplier and owner of infrastructure...
Norwegian state - owned STATOIL has almost 50% of "Shah Deniz II" gas field (where gas for TAP will come) and Statoil is, also, 42.5% shareholder in TAP. Therefore , it's a supplier and owner of infrastructure.
But, there is no point talking about his anymore. The project have been cancelled, and conventional wisdom teaches us that it is a good idea, when horse dies, to dismount and continue on foot...
So, I don't see a point talking about South Stream any more...