Medvedev calls for faster construction of gas export pipes
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called on European partners to build the Nord Stream and South Stream natural gas export pipelines as quickly as possible, ITAR-TASS reported Monday.
"It is pivotal to construct new energy routes as soon as possible," Medvedev said in an interview with Bulgarian journalists, referring to the Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines.
"If we can diversify supplies, Europe will be less dependent on the whims of a political regime in one state or another," Medvedev said.
A dispute over gas supplies between Russia and Ukraine left a number of European countries without gas supplies for almost three weeks in early January.
Russia also intends to continue working with Bulgaria on the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, the Burgas-Alexandrupolis oil pipeline, and the South Stream gas pipeline despite the economic crisis, Medvedev said.
The Nord Stream pipeline is expected to transport Russian gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea, while the South Stream pipe is expected to transport Russian gas to Europe across the Black Sea.