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Nabucco gas pipeline project to circumvent Bulgaria

The project for the Nabucco West gas pipeline that is to transport Caspian gas via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to Austria as of the end of 2017 has failed, news agencies report.

The Shah Deniz II consortium that operates the gas field in Azerbaijan has decided to choose the rival project for the Trans Adriatic pipeline TAP via Greece, Albania and Italy.

Bulgarian energy experts are in the opinion that the Trans Adriatic pipeline project is solely a political endeavor with no economic basis.

According to the chairman of the Center for Studying the Balkans and the Black Sea region Alex Alexiev, if Bulgaria remains fully dependent on Russia in energy terms, it has no economic future.

In the period 2005 to 2011, Bulgaria has increased its energy dependency on Russian gas supplied from 81 to 85 per cent.

Adapted from Radio Bulgaria