Vladimir Putin will make Greece a tempting offer today to boost its regional role by becoming a transit hub for Russian oil and gas exports to western markets.

The Russian president's three-way talks in Athens with Costas Karamanlis, Greek prime minister, and Georgi Parvanov, the Bulgarian president, focus on reviving a much-delayed project for a 280km oil pipeline linking the Black Sea with the north Aegean.

First mooted 12 years ago as a means of reducing tanker traffic in the crowded Bosphorus strait, the project hung fire because Russian oil companies declined to make a firm commitment to supply 35-50 million tonnes of oil yearly to fill the pipeline.

But Russia's growing ambitions as an international energy supplier brought a policy switch. Gazprom-Sibneft, part of the state-owned gas group, is among several potential suppliers, according to industry analysts.

The project would give Gazprom a direct outlet to the Mediterranean, with oil being shipped across the Black Sea from Novorossiysk to Burgas in Bulgaria and transferred by pipeline to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis.

Greek officials said the three leaders would give a political go-ahead for the €1 billion project, which is being developed by Russia's TNK-BP, with the aim of reaching a firm agreement by December.

Shareholdings in Trans-Balkan Pipeline, the project developer, are still being negotiated, with the Russian side insisting on a controlling stake as the oil supplier. Greek participants are Hellenic Petroleum, the state oil refiner, and Prometheus, a joint venture between Gazprom and Kopelouzos, a private pipeline constructor. Bulgargaz, Bulgaria's state-controlled gas company, which has close ties with Gazprom, would be among the Bulgarian shareholders. - (Financial Times service)