Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has insisted that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project will be costlier than the South Stream project.

In a Monday interview for the morning broadcast of the Bulgarian National Television, Petkova argued that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline had to cross an EU Member State.

Bulgaria’s Energy Minister questioned the economic feasibility of the Turkish Stream project.

She noted that Bulgaria had not yet received an official answer from Russia as regards the future of the South Stream project in view of the announcement of Vladimir Putin from December 2014 that Russia was withdrawing from the scheme.

“It is too early to say that it is all over with South Stream,” Petkova stated.

She said that the project company continued to exist because there was no official document confirming the suspension of the South Stream gas pipeline project.

As regards the implementation of gas grid interconnector projects, she said that the construction of the pipeline to Greece was to start in March 2016 and the final investment decision on the project was to be taken on May 29.

Petkova informed that the Bulgaria-Romania gas grid interconnector was to be ready by end-2015 and that the Bulgaria-Turkey and Bulgaria-Serbia gas grid interconnector projects were also moving forward.

She went on to say that the current conditions made it possible to keep power rates unchanged and rejected allegations that the forthcoming local elections in autumn were the reason behind the attempts to avoid a power price hike.

Petkova reminded that the recent changes to the Energy Act had guaranteed the independence of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR) from the government and that it was elected by Parliament.

She said that the times when electricity prices had been used as an instrument for conducting a social policy were gone, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.

Bulgaria’s Energy Minister made clear that KEVR was preparing an analysis on whether a power price hike from July 1 was necessary.