Bulgarian and Russian officials signed a deal Friday to build a natural gas pipeline. The agreement came after visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed hard to secure Bulgaria's crucial participation in the proposed South Stream pipeline that would cross from Russia under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then branch off for delivery deeper in Europe, the Associated Press reported. The deal required last-minute negotiations late Thursday. The Bulgarian Cabinet approved the deal at an extraordinary meeting only a few hours before it was signed. «Bulgaria's interests are fully protected, because the company which will be set up to construct and run the pipeline on Bulgarian soil will be with 50 percent Bulgarian and 50 percent Russian ownership,» Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said.