SOFIA, Bulgaria, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Bulgaria, Greece and Russia have agreed to work on a 175-mile long oil pipeline project to link the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea, media reported.
After 12 years of discussion, the governments in Sofia, Athens and Moscow have decided to sign by the end of the year an agreement for the construction of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, Bulgaria's SNA Sofia News Agency said Monday.
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said he is pleased with the fact the three countries have overcome a long-standing deadlock in the project, SNA said.
Parvanov was in Athens Monday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, the agency said.
Apart from the oil pipeline project, the three countries agreed to discuss the construction of new networks for gas transportation and some joint projects for transporting natural gas.
Using the pipeline, Russian oil would be transported across the Black Sea to Bulgaria's port of Bourgas and via the pipeline to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis.
This is the shortest way to cut out Turkey's Bosphorus and bring Russian oil directly to the Mediterranean Sea.
