Attending the meeting in the Hungarian capital, the Romanian PM, Emil Boc, explained that the decision of central European countries to promote a unitary energy policy is aimed at avoiding crises like the one we saw in early 2009 when disagreements between Russia and Ukraine temporarily blocked the delivery of Russian gas to Europe. In the meantime, the states in the region are waiting for the enforcement of regulations on security gas reserves.

These reserves can be used in situations when the European Union has to intervene because the market cannot manage disturbances in the gas supply on its own. The Nabucco project remains a priority for Romania, the PM Emil Boc pointed out. However, he did not rule out any other initiative that could consolidate the country’s energy security. The Russian giant GAZPROM has recently invited Romania to take part in the South Stream project which it develops together with the Italian company ENI and which is considered Nabucco’s competitor.

The Russian company has also proposed to the Romanian authorities to cooperate in exploring and exploiting the gas deposits in Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and even the Russian Federation. The parties have also spoken about the possibility of direct Russian gas imports, which would be to Romania’s financial advantage, as well as building gas deposits on Romanian territory. There are voices who say that a realisation of the projects considered by Moscow and Bucharest might lead to a drop in the price paid by Romania for the Russian gas. In March Romania will start negotiations with GAZPROM with a view to concluding a new contract regulating the transit of natural gas in the Balkans.