The talks between President Vladimir Putin and Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov took place first in narrow format and the two leaders were then joined by their delegations. First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Dmitry Medvedev also took part in the talks.
The talks examined promising areas for bilateral cooperation in the transport sector, investment and military-technical cooperation and tourism. The two presidents exchanged views on cooperation on the international stage and strengthening security in the Black Sea region on a multilateral basis. The talks paid particular attention to carrying out joint projects in the energy sector.
Following the talks, the two presidents were present for the signing of a number of bilateral agreements in the energy sector, in particular, an intergovernmental agreement on building a new transport route, Southern Stream, for taking Russian natural gas to Europe. The future gas pipeline will deliver up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year. The estimated cost of building the pipeline across Bulgaria’s territory is 1.4 billion euros.
Russia and Bulgaria signed an agreement on establishing an international project company to build and operate the Burgas-Alexandropoulis oil pipeline. The agreement to build this pipeline was signed in March 2007. It is estimated that this project will cost one billion euros and will see Russian oil transported to terminals in the Mediterranean bypassing the Turkish Bosphorus and Dardanelle Straits. The pipeline will be 300 kilometres long and have throughput capacity of 35 million-50 million tons of crude oil a year.
A general contract has been signed for construction of the Belen nuclear power plant. According to the contract’s terms, Russia will first build two modern units at the Belen nuclear power plant. The contract is worth around 4 billion euros. Russia and Bulgaria also signed a number of documents in the transport and humanitarian spheres.
Mr Putin and Mr Parvanov held a joint press conference following their talks.
The Bulgarian President later hosted an official dinner in honour of Mr Putin.