SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 22 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he would boycott an energy summit in Bulgaria in protest of the Nabucco pipeline to Europe.
Sofia hosts a two-day regional energy summit beginning Friday. Officials there expect to tout the South Stream natural gas pipeline during the meeting.
South Stream is a planned natural gas line from Russia to southeastern Europe. Though the project is backed by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, Putin is expected to boycott the meeting in opposition to the rival Nabucco route that may also be discussed, the Sofia News Agency reports, citing Russian-language news services.
Putin said Nabucco would hurt the relationship between Moscow and the European Union as the project sidelines Russia from supplying natural gas to Europe.
For his part, Valerie Yazev, the chairman of the Russian State Duma, told the Azeri Press Agency that South Stream has a "much better chance" of moving forward than Nabucco, as the Nabucco route may be redundant over time.
Europe renewed its focus on energy security and diversity in the wake of a January gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine hosts the bulk of Russian gas bound for European markets, and the January row brought disruptions to Russian customers.
Azerbaijan has emerged as the key source of alternative-energy supplies in the region, and Yazev stressed that the Baku has no other option but to sell its gas to Russia because of its current infrastructure.
