February 08, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 19, 1428

SOFIA, Feb 7: Bulgaria, Greece and Russia endorsed the text of an agreement on Wednesday to build a long-stalled pipeline to channel Russian oil from the Caspian Sea to the Aegean, Bulgaria’s regional development ministry said.

The 280-km Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, which will bypass Turkey’s already jammed Bosphorus Straits, is expected to cost about $900 million.

It will transport about 35 million tons of Russian oil per year with an option to later increase the capacity to 50 million tons.

The document was approved by Bulgarian Deputy Regional Development Minister Kalin Rogachev, Greek Development Ministry General Secretary Nikos Stefanou and Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Energy Andrey Dementiev, according to the regional development ministry here.—AFP