SOFIA, Bulgaria (AFP)--Leaders from the E.U., the Balkans and
gas supplier countries were set to meet Friday in Sofia, Bulgaria,
for a two-day gas security summit overshadowed by a last-minute
boycott by Russian Premier Vladimir Putin.
The summit brings together gas suppliers from the Caspian
region, Central Asia and the Middle East, and transit countries and
gas consumers from the Balkans and the E.U.
However, Putin's last-minute decision not to attend the talks
dampened organizers' hopes of strengthening cooperation and
security of deliveries to Europe, four months after a
Russia-Ukraine gas row shut European gas taps in January.
Instead, Russia's Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko was to join the
forum, also to be attended by European Commission President Jose
Manuel Barroso, United States special envoy for Eurasian energy
Richard Morningstar and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa.
Several Balkan government leaders and heads of state, as well as
experts and special envoys from France, Austria, Germany,
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have also confirmed their presence at
the two-day summit hosted by Bulgarian President Georgy
Parvanov.
A business forum on the sidelines of the political talks will,
meanwhile, groups representatives of companies such as France's GDF
Suez SA (GSZ.FR), Germany's RWE AG (RWEOY) and the National Iranian
Oil Company, or NIOC.
Bulgaria, which is almost totally dependent on Russia for its
gas deliveries, was among the hardest hit by the Russia-Ukraine gas
row and subsequent cut in deliveries in January.
In a move to diversify its energy sources and routes, Bulgaria
declared its support for both the E.U.'s flagship Nabucco project
to bring Caspian gas to Europe while bypassing Russia, and for the
Moscow-backed South Stream pipeline, pumping Russian gas to Europe
under the Black Sea.
But while Brussels and Moscow have been competing to sign up
enough gas suppliers to back their respective projects, the two
pipelines have been severely sidetracked by financial
difficulties.
Sofia has also stood up against a Russian plan to cut South
Stream costs by using Bulgaria's existing pipeline network, which
already channels Russian gas to neighboring Greece, Macedonia and
Turkey.
It was this decision by Sofia that prompted Putin to boycott the
summit, according to the Bulgarian government.