Russia's Centrgaz, the main building contractor for the Serbian section of the
South Stream gas pipeline, said it would be realistic to expect that the first
30 kilometers of pipes could be laid by the end of 2014, the press office of
Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic said in a statement on Wednesday.
The
statement was issued after Nikolic met in Belgrade with Centrgaz director
Stanislav Anikeev.
The deal for the construction of the Serbian section
of the pipeline, signed last month, is worth around 2.1 billion euro ($2.8
billion).
State-owned gas company Srbijagas has said the first volumes of
gas should start flowing through the 422.4 kilometre Serbian section of the
pipeline by the end of 2016.
Centrgaz, 99.99%-owned by Russia's Gazprom,
will be in charge of the design, the supply of equipment and materials, the
construction and installation works, the staff training and the commissioning of
the Serbian stretch of the pipeline.
The joint venture company in charge
of the implementation of the South Stream project in Serbia is 49%-owned by
Srbijagas with Gazprom controlling the remainder.
The planned South
Stream gas pipeline will carry gas from Russia to central and southern Europe
via Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia, reaching its full capacity of some
63 billion cubic metres per year by 2017. The total value of the
Gazprom-spearheaded project is estimated at some 16 billion euro.