The European Nabucco gas pipeline project is more important for Bulgaria than the Russia-backed South Stream project, Bulgaria's deputy foreign minster said.
Bulgarian media cited Marin Raykov as saying on Saturday that the Russian project "raises a lot of questions," while the Nabucco is an innovative project, which may serve as an example of an efficient state-private partnership in energy sphere.
"Bulgaria will work with its European partners to complete by the end of 2010 all the procedures necessary to start the construction [of the Nabucco pipeline]," Raykov said.
The diplomat added that his country would strive to become "independent and efficient" in its energy policy.
The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline construction project is estimated at $7.9 billion, and will transfer natural gas from the Caspian region through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Austria, bypassing Russia. The pipeline is to pump 20-30 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
