Regional Development and Public Works Minister Assen Gagaouzov met mayors whose municipalities are along the route of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, a Cabinet media statement said.

Invited to the meeting were the mayor of Kameno Stefan Bonev, of Sredets Todor Proikov, of Bolyarovo Hristo Hristov, of Topolovgrad Evtimiya Karacholova and of Svilengrad Georgi Manolov.

Earlier, the management of the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry met Bourgas mayor Dimitar Nikolov.

According to mediapool.bg, the meeting was a move by the Government to secure the support of Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) mayors and supporters for the construction of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, given that various political and civic organisations were against the pipeline.

Mediapool said that three of the mayors Gagaouzov met, Bonev, Proikov and Hristov, had either been nominated or supported by the BSP. Karacholova was from the Green Party, which was part of the BSP-dominated Coalition for Bulgaria. Svilengrad mayor Manolov was formally independent since he was nominated by an initiative committee. However, he was known to have been awarded a diploma by the Federation for friendship with the peoples of Russia and CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States) for his work in developing co-operation between Bulgaria and Russia, mediapool.bg said.

The theme of the meeting between Gagaouzov and the mayors was the construction of the oil pipepline, the advantages for the Bulgarian state and advantages for the municipalities. He said that part of the funds that Bulgaria would receive in the form of transit fees would remain with the municipalities through which the pipeline would pass. The mayors said that there was no negative sentiment against the construction of the oil pipeline in their municipalities. However, they demanded that the construction of the pipeline be accompanied by the use of certain hotels, by the purchasing of road maintenance equipment and by the construction of a modern medical centre, mediapool.bg said.

"We hope the economic benefits of the project would go to the municipalities, and the strategic ones to the state," Gagaouzov said. He said that no compromises would be made with the environment and that installations would be built in compliance with modern and efficient technologies.

Meanwhile, a session of the working group that is to conduct a referendum on the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline was held in Bourgas, which grew into a pro-or-contra-oil-pipeline discussion, mediapool.bg said. BSP regional chairperson Dimitar Stoyanov said the project was an opportunity that should not be dismissed, but should be carefully considered.

For some time now the socialists in the region have been supporting the idea that emphasis should be put on strict control and safety of the future pipeline, mediapool.bg commented.

Last week BSP member of the European parliament Marusya Lyubcheva proposed to her Strasbourg colleagues that the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline be regarded as a priority so that EU safety standards would be guaranteed, mediapool.bg said. The same theme was in Stoyanov's statement. He called on everyone to unite around the demand to apply strict measures when constructing the pipeline.

Stoyanov claimed that some of the cleanest places in the world were places where oil was extracted and transported, since the safety measures there were the highest. He said that it was pointless to hold a referendum on the construction of the oil pipeline. However, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Gergiovden and Middle European Class (MEC) did not agree with him, mediapool.bg said.