Bulgaria has suspended its operations on the South Stream pipeline project after a visit by American senators.

      According to the online news outlet Lenta.ru, the Bulgarian Prime Minister announced he would have to consult Brussels before resuming the works.

      Plamen Oresharski referred to a resolution dated April 2014 whereby the Europarliament urged the EU member states to opt out of the South Stream project.

      Apart from Bulgaria, other participants to the venture are Austria, Hungary, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia.

      The South Stream project is aimed at strengthening the European energy security. It is the key project in the diversification strategy for gas supply routes to the EU. The South Stream gas pipeline will ensure a direct connection between hydrocarbons suppliers and consumers thus raising significantly the energy supply security on the entire European continent, says the official website of the project.

      According to a consensus forecast given at the website, Europe’s annual demand for additional gas import may reach 80 billion cubic meters by 2020 and surpass 140 billion cubic meters by 2030.