According to the Russian media, quoted by our correspondent to Moscow, Gazprom is ready to offer Romania the main role in this project instead of Bulgaria, as negotiations with Sofia have dragged on for several months now. Bucharest is already involved in the Nabucco project, supported by the European Union, which envisages the construction of a gas pipeline able to facilitate direct import of natural gas from the Caspian region and Central Asia, by-passing Russia, through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. Here is Romanian economy minister Adrian Videanu.

“Romania has an extraordinary chance, as all the energy projects on the southern corridor are at the moment crossing our country, and that’s an extremely important thing which can give one the edge in any negotiation.”

Both Moscow and Brussels said that South Stream and Nabucco aren’t running against each other, being complementary. However, as experts point out, Nabucco’s informal role is to reduce Europe’s dependency on natural gas imported from Russia, an increasingly unpredictable provider in recent years.

Bucharest’s joining South Stream is not tantamount to defection though, as other countries involved with Nabucco have struck their own deal with the Russians. Romanian economic analyst Aurelian Dochia regrets that “Nabucco has so far racked only symbolic support from the EU as its construction doesn’t seem to have become vital for the bloc.” The Romanian analyst concludes, that “it would be a mistake to limit our options until one of the projects starts developing.”