South Stream Pipeline Project May Be Implemented - Trade Representative

The abandoned South Stream gas pipeline project could possibly be implemented, but Russia would need convincing guarantees from Sofia, Igor Ilingin, the Russian trade representative in Bulgaria, said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – In December 2014, Russia canceled the planned pipeline, which would go through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary and opted for Turkish Stream project instead.

"The [South Stream] project will probably be carried out," Ilingin said at a business forum in the city of Varna, as quoted by the Bulgarian Dnevnik news outlet on Wednesday.

Ilingin referenced Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2016 words about the importance of firm guarantees from Bulgaria.

According to the trade representative, Russian investors are interested in other projects that could be carried out in the port of Varna, whose location has lately proved very profitable.

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