Construction of South Stream gas pipeline in Serbia starts in 2013

Construction of South Stream gas pipeline in Serbia will start in 2013. The gas pipeline, of which construction in Serbia will run parallel to the construction works in all countries, will be put in operation in December 2015, Leonid Chugunov, the Director of the Project Management Sector at Gazprom, announced today.

Mr. Chugunov said that all project works for the gas pipeline would be finished until 2012 and that all work permits would be collected prior to mid-2012, which should be followed by the announcement of tenders.

Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic stated today that the gas pipeline South Stream must and would definitely be built because all reasons existed for such action.

He said at a press conference in Belgrade that South Stream was an absolute and long-term interest of the European Union and Russia and that it would be built from Russian and European money.

Mr. Bajatovic stressed that South Stream was also significant for economic and political prospects of all countries on it's route.

He also said that South Stream was a good thing for the image of Serbia, which would "again participate in large international infrastructure projects after two decades", and added that the project would also contribute to the improvement of energy security.

Mr. Bajatovic explained that the construction of South Stream was not a redistribution of the existing quantity of gas, but a source of the new quantity of gas.

Serbia's leg of the gas pipeline will be 470 km long, while the expected annual revenue from transit taxes is EUR 500 million.