Serbia, Gazprom Hold Formal Launch of Works on South Stream Section

The formal launch of the construction of the Serbian section of the South Stream gas pipeline took place on Sunday, Belgrade-based media reported.

Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic flagged off via a live video link the start of the welding of the first pipes in the village of Sajkas, in Serbia's northern Vojvodina province, state-run news agency RTS reported.

The heavy construction works should begin in earnest early next year.

As part of the ceremony, officials from Russia's Gazprom and state-owned gas monopoly Srbijagas signed a financing agreement on the project as well as a gas transmission deal.

The project in Serbia will be carried out by the joint-venture company South Stream Serbia AG, in which Srbijagas holds a 49% stake and Gazprom controls the remaining 51%.

The Serbian section of the pipeline will ultimately have an annual capacity of 40.5 billion cubic metres of gas while stretching for 422.4 kilometres.

The Gazprom-spearheaded South Stream aims to diversify gas routes within the European Union and to provide stable gas supplies from Russia to Central and Southern Europe. Intergovernmental agreements have been signed with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia in order to implement the onshore gas pipeline section.

Source: SeeNews