Russia in Balkan energy pact

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Vladimir Putin meets Croatian president Stipe Mesic at the Balkan energy summit.

Russia is interested in energy partnerships and cooperation with the countries of Southeastern Europe, as well as Europe as a whole, Russian president Vladimir Putin declared at a recent Balkan energy summit in the Croatian capital, Zagreb.

Putin said he expected open dialogue and precise directives to be outlined for cooperation between Russia, the Balkan region and the European Union with regard to energy and the transportation of energy sources.

"The strategic goal of our joint work in the field is to achieve that energy sources be made available and guaranteed to all countries in the region," Putin said.

Russia's gas deliveries to South-Eastern and Southern Europe stood at 73 billion m³, while oil deliveries amounted to 59 million tons last year. On 23 June, Russia's Gazprom signed an agreement with Italian company Eni to work on laying a new oil pipeline under the Black Sea to Bulgaria.

Putin also called for a project to create a Black Sea electricity ring. "A project to synchronise the energy systems of Western, Central and Southern Europe with the energy systems of the CIS and Baltic states is important.

"Its implementation will allow creating the Black Sea electric energy ring, which will link all European countries in the Black Sea region," Putin said, adding that this would allow formulation of the main aspects of a common energy market.

He said that Russian energy companies are "ready for detailed talks on their participation in the privatisation and modernisation of generating companies in the countries of the region", citing the construction of a thermoelectric power plant in Macedonia and the modernisation of an electric power plant in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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