The construction of the Serbian section of the South Stream gas pipeline is set
to get underway on November 24 while an offshoot could pump gas to Kosovo to
ensure the regional reliability of supplies, the government in Belgrade said on
Monday.
All technical details and parameters for the launch of the
construction of the Serbian section of the pipeline will be determined over the
coming days, the government said in a statement issued after Serbian prime
minister Ivica Dacic met with Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller in
Belgrade.
In a separate statement issued after Serbian president Tomislav
Nikolic met with Miller later in the day, the office of the head of state said
that, in connection with the scheduled project launch, it has been proposed that
the two sides sign agreements on the transportation of Russian gas across Serbia
and on the financing of the Serbian section.
In November 2009, the South
Stream Serbia AG joint project company was registered with Gazprom holding 51%
and Serbian state-owned gas monopoly Srbijagas controlling 49%. In October 2012
a final investment decision was approved for the South Stream project in
Serbia.
The 1.7 billion euro ($2.3 billion) Serbian section of the South
Stream pipeline will ultimately have an annual capacity of 40.5 billion cubic
metres of gas while stretching for 422.4 kilometres (km). The initial plans
involve building a 52.8 km spur to Croatia and a 105.8 km offshoot to Bosnia's
Serb Republic, as well as possible branches towards FYROM and
Montenegro.
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.
The South Stream pipeline is
expected to carry 63 billion cubic metres of gas per year.