Following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Greek and Bulgarian counterparts, the three countries announced that they have agreed to begin construction of a long-delayed oil pipeline that will link the Black Sea to the Aegean. An official agreement on the issue will be signed by the end of the year.
The new pipeline will cut the heavy oil tanker traffic in the congested Bosphorus Straits. It is estimated that current delays caused by so many ships trying to load oil in the Bosphorus cost energy companies at least 500 million euros a year.