Reuters: EU energy boss says no South Stream talks while Russia appeals to WTO
Negotiations to bring Russia's giant South Stream project into line with European Union law are pointless as long as Moscow is asking the World Trade Organisation to review the bloc's energy rules, Europe's energy chief said on Friday.
Russia's Gazprom plans to build a giant pipeline named South Stream on the bed of the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then to Austria to ship gas directly to the EU, bypassing Ukraine, through which a large part of EU gas supplies currently travels.
The European Commission says the pipeline breaches many EU regulations - on intergovernmental agreements, procurement, and free market rules that prevent gas producers from also owning the pipes used to transport it.