Pipeliners

05.10.2006 MosNews - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov arrived in Greece on Thursday, Oct. 5, for talks with political leaders. In Athens, Fradkov will meet Greece’s President Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. The talks are expected to concentrate on Moscow’s expanding energy presence in southeast Europe and the signing of intergovernmental agreement for construction of Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline. Fradkov’s one-day trip follows a Sept. 4 visit to Athens by President Vladimir Putin during which he vowed to overcome delays in a stalled pipeline project to carry Russian oil from Bulgaria to Greece. The 280-kilometer (175-mile) Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline would transport oil directly to southeastern Europe, bypassing Turkey’s busy Bosporus Strait. Following negotiations with his Greek colleague, Russian Prime Minister said that the intergovernmental agreement on construction of the much-delayed oil pipeline will be signed by Russia, Greece and Bulgaria before the end of this year. “Before the end of this year we have to prepare together a draft of the intergovernmental agreement and agree on details on the corporate level, based on the agreements that were reached at a meeting on Sept. 4,” Fradkov said, quoted by RIA Novosti.