A planned pipeline to ship Russian oil to Greece could pose an environmental threat, Bulgaria said Tuesday, effectively stalling the project days before talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Bulgaria's environment ministry said in a statement that it would not give its approval to the pipeline until its plans are reworked.
A key document on the possible environmental impact of the pipeline did not "list concrete measures for preventing leaks" in the Black Sea region of Burgas, the ministry complained.
"There is no guarantee that in the case of accidents there will be no irreversible damage on the (Burgas) bay as a whole, its flora and fauna as well as tourism," the ministry statement said.
As part of the project, Russia will ship oil to Burgas in tankers which will then be fed into the 280-kilometre (174-mile) pipeline to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis.
The environment ministry said it would give the joint-stock Bulgarian-Russian-Greek company two months to rework its plans before reviewing it again.
The ruling comes just four days before a planned energy-focused visit by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Sofia has already expressed reservations about the pipeline and the ruling could provide an argument for Bulgaria to pull out of the project completely.
Both Russia and Greece have recently intensified pressure on Bulgaria to endorse the project, despite strong opposition from environmentalists and local residents.
The pipeline aims to allow transit of Caspian Sea oil to Europe avoiding the busy Bosphorus strait, but it would pass through protected nature reserves near Burgas.
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