Azernews.Az

Russia moved to bolster its bid to supply gas to Europe via a new route after another Eastern European country joined the Moscow-backed project, but analysts say a number of roadblocks are in the way of its implementation.
Hungary has become a third state -after Bulgaria and Serbia - to join the South Stream project that will take Central Asian and Russian gas to European markets.
The route is an alternative to the West-backed NABUCCO project that envisions building a $6 billion, 3,300-km pipeline by 2012 to pump gas from the Caspian region and Central Asia to Europe, via Turkey and the Balkans, by-passing Russia. NABUCCO aims to help European countries diversify supplies of energy and reduce dependence on Russian gas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the ceremony of signing an inter-governmental agreement with Hungary on Thursday that South Stream was much more efficient than NABUCCO. However, a number of obstacles will block Moscow's initiative, with one of the key ones being the countries crossed by the pipeline, pundits say.
The maritime section of the South Stream conduit will go through the economic zone of Ukraine, which has been facing tension with Russia over gas supplies. Kiev may therefore delay implementation of the project and thus acquire a tool for pressure on Moscow in talks.
The Ukrainian government has not commented on the South Stream project so far, but Russian Kommersant newspaper quoted the Tymoshenko administration as saying that whether or not South Stream will go ahead now depends on Ukraine's White Stream project.
"If Europe decides to build it [the pipeline], Moscow's approval will be needed to lay pipes under the Black Sea. Then an exchange could be done. We could build White Stream, while Russia - South Stream," the source said.
As for European countries, they are acting as consumers and see little difference in receiving South Stream or NABUCCO gas.
Analysts predict that the United States, one of the key backers of NABUCCO, will step up effort to advance the project.
At the time Moscow signed the South Stream deal with Hungary, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Steven Mann discussed energy issues with Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat.
Meanwhile, US engineering and construction firm KBR Inc won a tender of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR to develop a feasibility study of the trans-Caspian gas pipeline, which is a key part of the NABUCCO project. The company will carry out the work on account of the $1.7 million grant allocated by the State Department, SOCAR said.