Greece's parliament this week will begin the ratification process for the South Stream pipeline to pass through the country bringing Russian gas to southern Europe, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
A parliamentary committee will begin debating an agreement on the pipeline on Thursday, Greek government spokesman Theodore Roussopoulos told reporters.
"After a procedure that began some time ago and was completed in all stages," he said, the government had on July 16 tabled the deal in parliament for ratification.
The government majority is expected to approve the agreement.
The EUR10 billion pipeline is planned to first cross the Black Sea from Russia into Bulgaria and then split into two arms, one going to Austria and the other to southern Italy via Greece.
With a capacity of up to 31 billion cubic meters of gas, South Stream is seen as crucial to Russia's efforts to maintain a dominant position on the European continent's gas supply.
Analysts say it rivals the European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline, which is aimed at reducing the bloc's dependence on Russian supplies, though the E.U. insists the two projects complement each other.
Bulgaria and Hungary have already signed up to the South Stream project, which is being developed by Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) with Italy's Eni (E).
The Bulgarian parliament ratified the deal on July 25.
Russian gas accounted for 46% of E.U. imports in 2005 and 77% of Greek imports in 2007.
Greece has also agreed with Russia and Bulgaria to build a 280-kilometer oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Aegean, hailed as a vital alternative route bypassing the tanker-congested Bosphorus Straits.