Construction of the undersea section of the South Stream gas
pipeline linking Russia to European consumers will only begin in 2014, the
consortium said Monday after a major ceremony led by President Vladimir Putin
launched the project.
Mr. Putin on Friday oversaw a ceremonial first welding of the pipeline which is
due to be completed in 2015 and start pumping the gas of Russian state giant Gazprom under the Black Sea to Europe.
But South Stream acknowledged that the construction of the main section under
the Black Sea would only take place in 2014 once all the environmental permits
had been agreed.
"Based on this, deep-water pipelaying and landfall construction of the
offshore section will commence in 2014, while most onshore construction is
expected to have commenced earlier," a spokesman said in emailed comments
to AFP.
"This is normal since offshore construction in general is a more complex
process than onshore construction."
Russia's Vedomosti daily said Monday that despite the fanfare of the launch
ceremony, the offshore work had still not received the required permission and
environmental permits.
Activists have expressed fears for the Black Sea environment while there have
also been concerns about the decision to place the Russian shore hub around
Anapa, a popular resort.
South Stream said it was on track to meet its main milestone, the
"delivery of first gas through the first of four offshore pipelines by the
end of 2015."
The Kremlin has been pushing South Stream as a way to ensure Russia's gas
reaches Europe, avoiding pipelines that run through its unpredictable neighbor
Ukraine with whom Moscow has had bumpy relations in the past years.
However some analysts have castigated the 16.5 billion euros ($21.5 billion)
project as waste of money as the pipeline is being built at a time when demand
for Russian gas is predicted to wane.
The offshore section of South Stream is being built by a consortium that is
50%-owned by Gazprom, 20% by Italy's ENI, 15% by France's EDF and
15% by Germany's Wintershall.
The pipeline will flow underneath Turkey's waters in the Black Sea and through
the Balkans, crossing Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia and then Austria
to connect with the main European pipeline network.