Russia, Serbia Confirm South Stream Plans

Russia and Serbia have confirmed their commitments to the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, Russian media reported on Tuesday, quoting Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

"We have confirmed our agreements on the South Stream and the need to implement the project. It [the project] is the only systematically feasible solution for the provision of the southeast of Europe [with natural gas]," news agency Itar-Tass reported, quoting Lavrov as saying after a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic.

The news agency also quoted Lavrov as saying he strongly believed that the recently mooted suspension of the project is only a 'provisional issue.'

The planned South Stream gas pipeline will carry gas from Russia to central and southern Europe via Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia, reaching its full capacity of some 63 billion cubic metres (cu m) per year by 2017. The total value of the Gazprom-spearheaded project is estimated at some 16 billion euro ($21.7 billion).

Construction works on the Serbian section of the South Stream are set to start in July. The Serbian section of the pipeline will ultimately have an annual capacity of 40.5 billion cu m while stretching for 422.4 kilometers.

Last week, Bulgarian prime minister Plamen Oresharski said Bulgaria had halted the construction of the South Stream section on its territory until the project is aligned to EU law.

Earlier this month, the European Commission sent the Bulgarian authorities a letter of formal notice, asking the country to suspend the project's implementation as it runs counter to EU legislation.

Also last week, Serbian media quoted Serbian deputy prime minister Zorana Mihajlovic as saying that the country will have to delay the launch of the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline on its territory until its eastern neighbour Bulgaria gets clearance to proceed with the project.

Source: SeeNews