BURGAS, Bulgaria, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Bulgarian residents in the Black Sea coastal city of Burgas said a decision to scrap the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline was cause for celebration.
The Bulgarian government announced Wednesday it was backing out of the planned oil pipeline because of financial reasons.
The pipeline was meant to bypass crowded waterways near Turkey by crossing an overland route to the Aegean Sea.
Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov, who in the past expressed opposition to the 174-mile pipeline, said he was pleased with the government's decision.
"I thank Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the government for placing the interests of the nation and the Burgas region above anything else," he was quoted by the Sofia News Agency as saying. "I realize that their decision was not easy at all because of the enormous economic interests involved with the project."
Authorities at Russian oil company Transneft told Russian news agency ITAR-Tass they weren't told of the Bulgarian government's decision, however.
Sofia in the past said such claims by Russian counterparts were negotiating tactics meant to advance the pipeline.
