Russian energy giant
OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) and Hungary signed a final shareholders'
agreement to build the Hungarian section of natural gas pipeline
South Stream, Hungary's state-owned power company MVM Zrt. said
Wednesday.
The South Stream gas pipeline project will
link Russia with Austria by transporting gas across the Black Sea and
through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia.
The
capacity of the 229-kilometer Hungarian stretch, with costs estimated
at 600 billion euros ($780 billion), will be 30 billion cubic meters
a year. The section is planned to start operating as of Jan. 1,
2016.
Hungary is highly dependent on Russia for its
natural gas; the only country where it imports gas from. In 2011 the
Russian gas supply to Hungary totaled 6.26 billion cubic
meters.
Gazprom Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev said
at the press briefing that there's a possibility of building a
sub-stretch to Croatia, but that wouldn't be a transit route.