Posted on 12/11/2014 10:57:14 PM PST by wetphoenix
Stand on the sea wall next to the port in Varna and you can see the bits and pieces of South Stream piled up in front of you.
Hundreds of long black sections of piping - some on the dockside, and others still stacked on cargo ships.
They were supposed to have been laid beneath the gloomy waters of the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine and bringing Russian gas directly to south-eastern Europe.
But - suddenly and unilaterally - Vladimir Putin has declared the project dead. Gas, he said, will be sent to Turkey instead.
"It's really not clear what's going to happen to all these pipes next," admits Spas Spasov, a local journalist in Varna who has covered the project from the start.
No-one at the port itself was prepared to talk about the abandoned pipes, and the local South Stream office was closed for business on the day we visited.
Bulgaria says it still hasn't received any formal notification from Moscow that the project has been cancelled, and the European Commission is "seeking clarification".
"It's always been a bit of a mystery anyway," Mr Spasov points out.
"For example, it was never revealed - if Bulgaria were to sign a contract with (the Russian company) Gazprom - what the price for the transit of gas would be." Corruption fears
While Russia wanted Gazprom to have exclusive access to the pipeline, the EU said no.
It was a stalemate sharpened and embittered by the dispute about Russian military actions in Ukraine.
And at the local fruit and vegetable market in Varna, there is a grudging acceptance that bigger issues are at play here.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
I keep hearing how brilliant Putin is.
Seems like a fool to me.
You can only jerk your customers around so much before they want nothing to do with you no matter how little you sell your wares for.
About half the Balkans are underlain by gas bearing shale.
While Russia wanted Gazprom to have exclusive access to the pipeline, the EU said no. It was a stalemate sharpened and embittered by the dispute about Russian military actions in Ukraine.
I see it in the whole different way. A gas still would be sold and Europe will be a consumer. The difference is Russia would be paid by Turkey at said hub and Europe would have to deal with Turkey which is entitled to set rules now.
Putin has made NATO member Turkey indispensible to the EU. This will inevitably result in a closer relationship between Turkey and the EU. Chessmaster Putin has outwitted us again!
Do you still think Putin is playing it smart?
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