Russian PM Agreed On Direct Gas Sale To Romania – President

Basescu said he talked to Putin and to  Russian President Dimitri Medvedev, adding he did not make public the talks as they were not public interest issues, except for the gas issue.

Basescu said they also discussed the price difference for the gas used in the chemical industry, compared to that paid by Ukraine, which strongly affects the Romanian petrochemical industry, but according to Putin, the gas price also rose in Ukraine.

Basescu also said Romania takes seriously the proposal to join South Stream gas pipeline project, without giving up its European projects, like gas pipeline project Nabucco.

The South Stream project, developed by Italian energy company Eni and Russia’s Gazprom, is a gas pipeline project, worth EUR10 billion, aimed to transport Russian natural gas to Italy and Greece, transiting several states like Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary.

South Stream is considered the main competitor of EU-backed Nabucco, which targets to supply natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Central Europe via Turkey and Romania, bypassing Russia.