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| Bulgaria backs Russian gas plan | Bulgaria backs Russian gas plan |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Bulgaria has agreed to a gas pipeline deal with Russia that is expected to strengthen Moscow's monopoly of energy supplies to Europe. | |
| The Bulgarian cabinet has agreed to allow the planned South Stream pipeline to pass through the country on its way from the Black Sea to southern Europe. | The Bulgarian cabinet has agreed to allow the planned South Stream pipeline to pass through the country on its way from the Black Sea to southern Europe. |
| The South Stream project is a rival to the planned Nabucco pipeline, which has the backing of the EU and the US. | The South Stream project is a rival to the planned Nabucco pipeline, which has the backing of the EU and the US. |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently on a state visit to Bulgaria. | Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently on a state visit to Bulgaria. |
| He is accompanied by Dmitry Medvedev, the head of Russian gas giant Gazprom and Mr Putin's nominee to succeed him this year as president. | |
| The South Stream gas scheme, said to be worth 10bn euros ($14.66bn; £7.4bn), is being jointly developed by Gazprom and the Italian firm, ENI. | |
| The 900km (550-mile) pipeline is expected to take Russian gas under the Black Sea and overland across Bulgaria to markets in southern Europe, with a major gas hub to be sited in Serbia. | |
| Bulgaria had received a competing offer from the US and EU to join the rival Nabucco project. | |
| Nabucco is intended to pump Central Asian gas to Europe, in a move intended to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian resources. |