Bulgaria will launch exploratory work in the Black Sea to set the route of the future South Stream gas pipeline, announced Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov after a meeting in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"Naturally, we discussed major strategic projects like South Stream", Mladenov declared, adding that he had filed a document to the Bulgarian Council of Ministers permitting the start of exploration activities in Bulgaria's Black Sea region.

The South Stream gas pipeline, planned to carry natural gas to the Black Sea to Bulgaria and further toGreece, Italy and Austria, is scheduled for completion in 2015. The gas conduit, a joint project of Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni, is seen as a rival to EU-backed Nabucco.