Putin Signed a Law for Russia-Balkan Pipeline Building

Russia's president Vladimir Putin signed a federal law Thursday ratifying a deal to build a oil pipeline across the Balkan states to Europe.

The deal to build the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline was signed March 15 with Greece and Bulgaria to carry Russian oil via the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas and Greece's Alexandroupolis on the Aegean.

Russia's state-controlled oil producer Rosneft, Transneft, and energy giant Gazprom will hold a total of 51% in the project, while Greece and Bulgaria will control 24.5% each.

Putin also said expansion of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) should be synchronized with the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline. The CPC is a 935-mile oil pipeline from the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and the largest single US investment in Russia.