Medvedev on South Stream pipeline

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed confidence at the Russia-EU summit that South Stream gas pipeline could turn into a trans-European energy network.

“Of late we’ve already reached good results,” the president said adding that Moscow “consecutively diversified oil and gas supply routes.”

“We hope that the South Stream project can get the status of the trans-European energy network in the future,” he said adding that Russia and the EU were jointly developing insurance mechanisms that took into account the interests of all parties – suppliers, importers and transit-countries and that nobody should suffer.

The South Stream gas pipeline is Gazprom and Italian ENI’s joint project which should carry Russian gas under the Black Sea through a 900-kilometer-long pipeline to Bulgaria and through Serbia to other European countries.

The investment’s value is estimated to EUR 20bn, the pipeline’s capacity should be 63bn cubic meters a year and the construction should begin in 2011, while the deadline for completion of works being set for the end of 2015.

Interstate agreements on construction of the South Stream were signed with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria.

Serbia was the first one to establish a joint company with Gazprom in order to implement the South Stream project, in which the Russian company has a 51 percent stake.