Italy 's Eni SpA (E) will take 22 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia 's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) this year and won't fulfill its "take-or-pay" commitments, Interfax news agency quoted the company's chief executive, Paolo Scaroni, as saying Friday.

He declined to tell reporters how much Eni was supposed to take under the commitments, which oblige companies to take a certain amount of gas a year or pay fines, Interfax reported.

Mr. Scaroni was speaking at the launch of construction of the South Stream pipeline that will take Russian gas to Southern Europe via the Black Sea . He said Eni could receive all its gas via the new route, which is projected to have a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters a year on completion in 2018.

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