THE PRESIDENT'S ENERGY LETTER: PARVANOV TAKES ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000707 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2018 TAGS: ENRG PGOV PREL BU SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENT'S ENERGY LETTER: PARVANOV TAKES ON BOARD, WILL TRAVEL Classified By: Ambassador Nancy McEldowney for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In a November 3 meeting with the Ambassador, Bulgarian President Parvanov welcomed President Bush's October 21 energy letter, skewered EU energy policy dithering, and warned of Russian advances in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Parvanov is actively engaging Azerbaijan and Central Asia though a series of visits aimed at increasing Europe's profile in the region and laying the groundwork for Bulgaria's energy summit, planned for April 2009. Other issues from the meeting will be reported septel. End Summary. ¶2. (C) President Parvanov welcomed President Bush's October 21 letter on building support for a Southern Corridor. He told the Ambassador November 3 that Bulgaria is actively engaging the Caucasus and Central Asia on energy issues because the EU as a whole is distracted, a trend that will be amplified by the global financial crisis. Parvanov said other EU countries are stepping up to fill the vacuum left by the lack of EU policy, with Hungary and the Czech Republic planning major energy gatherings in the first half of 2009. Unfortunately, said Parvanov, these events are unlikely to lead to any positive final result. "There is too much motion, and not enough movement," he said. ¶3. (C) By contrast, he explained, Bulgaria continues to lay the groundwork for its long-planned April 2009 energy summit, by reaching out to heads of state of producer countries. In September 2007 Foreign Minister Kalfin held energy talks in Kazakstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Parvanov then met with Azerbaijani President Aliev in March 2008 and secured a "pledge" of one bcm of Azeri gas as Bulgaria's Nabucco quota. Bulgaria would like to take this gas as soon as possible and has proposed a hook-up to the Turkey-Greece-Italy interconnector to do so. ¶4. (C) On November 5 Parvanov will travel to Uzbekistan for energy talks with his counterpart. In mid-November Bulgarian Vice President Angel Marin will attend the Baku Energy Summit. (N.B. Marin sometimes speaks out of school and off message.) In December, President Parvanov will meet his counterpart in Turkmenistan. These visits are necessary, he said, to make up for time and momentum lost by the European Union over the past seven months. Azerbaijan, especially, wants to feel like part of the European family, so engagement is essential and timing is key. While the EU dithers, he said, Russia is making headway in the region, as evidenced most recently by Moscow's recent facilitation of talks on Nagorno Karabakh. ¶5. (C) Ambassador welcomed Bulgaria's Southern Corridor outreach. She noted that as an EU member, neighbor and former electricity exporter to Turkey, Bulgaria has a special role to play in solving the Turkish part of the Southern Corridor calculation. She urged Parvanov to find creative ways to meet Turkey's energy needs and to support the opening of the energy chapter of Turkey's accession bid. Parvanov requested a follow-up meeting to discuss next steps on the Southern Corridor upon his return from Central Asia in December. McEldowney