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Latest Articles about Balkans
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Russian Oil Business Targeting EU’s Entrant Croatia
Croatia has become the newest member of the European Union, with a national referendum on January 22 capping the accession process. The government-controlled JANAF (Jadranski Naftovod – Adriatic Oil Transportation) enterprise, however, has marked the country’s EU accession in its own way. It has opened... MORE
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Bulgarian Government Withdraws Chevron’s Shale Gas Permit
The Bulgarian Parliament has indefinitely suspended shale gas exploration and extraction in the country under public pressure from environmentalist groups. The moratorium will affect shale gas and oil exploration on the entire territory of Bulgaria and along its Black Sea shore (Bulgarian National Television, January... MORE
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Bulgaria Terminates a Russian-led Energy Project, Discovers Natural Gas and Prospective Shale Gas Deposits
The Bulgarian government quit a Russian-led pipeline project after a thorough review of key Russian energy projects in the country. Bulgaria is heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies and suffered hardship when Moscow cut Europe-bounded gas supplies to Ukraine in January 2009. Sofia has been... MORE
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A Scandal In Serbia?
On September 15, on the eve of the NATO EULEX mission’s takeover of the Kosovo customs’ points Brnjak and Jarinje, Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin created a diplomatic scandal in Serbia that has apparently since grown. Speaking at the Belgrade Security Forum, Konuzin lambasted the audience... MORE
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LUKoil Under Pressure In Bulgaria
Russia’s energy interests in Bulgaria have been under scrutiny since the center-right government of Boyko Borissov took office in July 2009. At the beginning of his mandate, Borisov pledged to review all pending Russian energy contracts signed by the previous Socialist government. Two years later,... MORE
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Croatian Government Reverses Move Against MOL, But Problems Persist
The Croatian government has reversed a move that would have jeopardized its goal to complete accession negotiations with the European Union this year. A government meeting on April 2 was set unilaterally to impose a 49 percent limit on shareholding in the INA oil and... MORE
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Croatia Hesitates Between EU and Russia on Energy Policy
Croatia hopes to complete accession negotiations with the European Union during the course of this year. However, the government would put its own EU accession goals at risk if it were to re-orient its energy policy toward Russia, or away from EU competition policy. The... MORE
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Russia Mothballs Trans-Balkan Oil Pipeline Project
On February 17, the stakeholders and supervisory board of the Russian-led Burgas-Alexandropolis oil pipeline project shelved the project in all but name. The host countries, Bulgaria and Greece, had (each for its own considerations) recently suspended payments to the project company. The meeting decided to... MORE
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European Commission Urges Corrections to Bulgarian-Russian South Stream Agreement
The European Commission is calling for changes to the Bulgarian-Russian inter-governmental agreement on the South Stream gas project. The project agreements, just signed for the Bulgarian section of this Gazprom-led project (EDM, November 16) are also generating serious complications in and for Bulgaria.On November 15... MORE
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South Stream Project Facing Intractable Problems After Bulgaria’s Signature
Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, and Gazprom CEO, Aleksei Miller, have collected Bulgaria’s signature on the South Stream project on November 13 (“Bulgaria Rejoins Gazprom’s South Stream Project,” EDM, November 16).The signing marks the latest move in a rapid expansion of Kremlin-controlled energy companies into... MORE