The riddle of South Stream

There are different possible motives for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to cancel the South Stream pipeline.

First, he might see a cheaper way to achieve the same end. Gazprom still plans to send 63 billion cubic metres per year to Southeast Europe – the same volume intended for South Stream. This includes 14 bcm/y to Turkey and 50 bcm/y to a connection point at the Greek border, the frontier of the EU. As such, a lot of Russian gas is still coming to Southeast Europe, which will consolidate Gazprom’s presence in the region and leaves countries in the area largely dependent on Russian gas (see South Stream gone but not forgotten in Turkish gambit, 2 December 2014).