Balkan oil pipeline project kicks off

Pari Daily/Business Media Group
December 17, 2007

Balkan oil pipeline project kicks off

by Radostina Markova
The International Project Company (IPC), which is to set up and operate
the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, will be registered within a
few days, Assen Gagauzov, regional development and public works
minister, said. This is the last step prior to the start of the
construction works on the oil pipeline. The company will be registered
in the Netherlands, rather than in Cyprus as suggested by Russia and
Greece. The IPC will have subsidiaries in Bulgaria and Greece, which
will be subject to the respective tax laws. The Bulgarian subsidiary
will most likely be registered in Bourgas and Greece's in
Alexandroupolis.
Bulgaria's will own 24.5% in the project and is not expected to sell
parts of its stake, Gagauzov said.
The IPC will set up a fund for environmental safety, where the company
will allocated part of its profit. Part of the collected fees for
transit of oil will be reinvested in the development of the regions
where the pipeline goes through. The oil will be supplied with double
skin tankers, which have not been in operation for more than 10 years.
This is prompted by the concerns of the local authorities both in
Bourgas and in Alexandroupolis about the impact of the project on the
environment and the tourism activities.