Russian energy ties in pipeline
The signing in Athens today of a deal for $1 billion (-755 million) pipeline to carry Russian oil from the Black Sea to the Aegean may signal the beginning of closer energy ties between Russia and Greece, sources said yesterday. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev are today set to ink the deal on a 280-kilometer pipeline linking the Bulgarian port of Burgas and the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis. The signing ceremony will end 14 years of talks on the issue. Construction of the project is expected to take about 18 months. Putin is expected to broach with Karamanlis Russian plans to supply a separate pipeline linking Turkey, Italy and Greece with Russian gas rather than Caspian fuel, as planned. Meanwhile, police are expected to lock down the city center for much of today, when a potentially volatile student protest against education reforms will coincide with Putin’s visit. Four months of violent protests against the conservative government’s education reforms have seen a total of 77 officers injured in clashes with the protesters. Some 3,000 police – including riot squads, special forces and undercover agents – will provide security for Putin’s Athens visit, which started late yesterday.
