Bulgaria has agreed to a gas pipeline deal with Russia.
The South Stream pipeline is to pass through the country on its way from the Black Sea to southern Europe.
This project is a rival to the EU's planned Nabucco pipeline.
The 900km pipeline is expected to take Russian gas under the Black Sea and overland across Bulgaria to markets in southern Europe, with a major gas hub to be sited in Serbia.
Bulgaria had received a competing offer from the US and EU to join the rival Nabucco project.
525
Bulgaria Preferred Russia's South Stream to EU's Nabucco
The South Stream pipeline is to pass through the country on its way from the Black Sea to southern Europe