European Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said that intergovernmental agreements signed for the South Stream pipeline project by Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia will not be reconsidered, News.ru reports.
The European Commission said in early December 2013 that the deals did not meet European rules and should be reconsidered. The third energy package was the cause of doubts. Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovenia said that the deals had been signed in 2008-2009 and had not violated the law back then.
Russian Minister for Energy Alexander Novak and European Commissioner Gunther Oettinger agreed on January 17 to form a working group for legal and technical aspects of the project. Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said that it was done to make the gas pipeline function properly.
