Greek Development Minister Christos Folias called Thursday for the Russian-controlled South Stream and Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline projects to be speeded up, Prime Tass reported.
He was speaking following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
Folias said he had held talks with Russian officials on the issue.
The South Stream is expected to be built by Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) and Italian energy company Eni SpA (E). The pipeline will run from Russia under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then branch into two stretches. The first stretch is expected to run to the southwest via Bulgaria and Greece to Italy. The second stretch is expected to run to the northwest via Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, and Austria. The pipeline's annual capacity is projected at about 31 billion cubic meters. Gas supplies through the South Stream are expected to start in 2013.
The Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline is expected to be controlled by Gazprom's oil arm Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS), Russian oil major OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS), and Russia's oil pipeline monopoly OAO Transneft (TRNFP.RS).
The pipeline will transport Russian oil from the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis for further shipment to foreign markets. Its launch is planned for between late 2010 and early 2011.