Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Long-delayed trans-Balkan oil deal to be signed Thursday

The tripartite agreement on co-operation in the implementation of the Trans-Balkan oil pipeline Burgas-Alexandropoulos will be signed in Athens on Thursday, March 15.

The tripartite agreement will be signed by top officials of the signatory countries - Russia, Greece and Bulgaria.

The Russian Embassy in Skopje said the Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Athens tomorrow on the occasion of the signing ceremony.

Besides the talks with Greek senior officials, President Putin will take part in the trilateral Russian-Bulgarian-Greek summit.

After the completion of the trilateral summit, the competent ministers are due to signing the inter-governmental; treaty on co-operation in the realization of the Burgas-Alexandropoulos oil pipeline project.

The nearly 300-kilometer-long Trans-Balkan oil pipeline will carry Russian oil to the Mediterranean. In the phase 1, the pipeline will transport 15 million tons of oil per year; 24 million ton sin the phase 2; and 35 million tons of oil within phase 3.

The project aims to create a new route of continued export of Russian oil and other oil from Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean markets, says the statement released by the Russian Embassy in Skopje.

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