Port Varna has registered a profit of over BGN 2 M for the past five months from the processing and storing of steel pipes earmarked for the construction of the offshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline, according to Dimitar Atanasov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company.

Atanasov, as cited by Darik radio, made clear that the contract signed with Russian company South Stream Transport in mid-January 2014 was for a four-year term.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Port Varna underscored that even in the case of a re-routing of the gas pipeline via Turkey, the pipes would still have to be offloaded in Varna and Burgas.

Under preliminary plans, the offshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline was to consist of four parallel strings located on the Black Sea seabed, with each string consisting of over 75 000 pipes.

Some of the pipes are still stored on the territory of warehouse terminals at the ports of Varna and Burgas.