Fitch Ratings said. Russian officials this week said they were suspending the effort to build the South Stream natural gas pipeline across the Black Sea to the European market. Wary of the role of Russian energy company Gazprom in the European market, lawmakers in the European Parliament this year called for a suspension of South Stream contracts. Fitch, in a note sent Friday to UPI, said the decision reflects low demand for additional natural gas volumes in the European market as much as it does frustration with Russia’s role in the market. “We believe that there is little appetite among large utilities to commit to more long-term import contracts,” the ratings agency said. “This is because demand has been cyclically and structurally weak as market economics […]