SOFIA, Bulgaria, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Environmental and economic considerations may push Bulgaria away from the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, the country's prime minister said.
Bulgaria in 2007 signed an agreement with Russia and Greece to build the 174-mile oil pipeline to bypass crowded waterways near Turkey by crossing an overland route to the Aegean Sea.
In December, Sofia said the terms of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis contract wouldn't deliver an economic benefit to the country.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said during the summer that his country was "giving up" on the oil pipeline and suspending plans with Russia to build a nuclear power plant.
Bulgarian environmental officials, meanwhile, said the environmental impact assessment of the pipeline wasn't satisfactory.
Borisov said following a weekend meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that there were too many issues to embrace the oil pipeline.
"We understand the concerns of our colleague as far as environment protection is concerned," he was quoted by the Sofia News Agency as saying. "We have other projects and we will work on them."
In June, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said delays from Sofia were creating problems for the pipeline, describing the project as "practically suspended."
