Russia, Greece to Set Up Jv to Build South Stream Gas Pipeline in Greek Territory

From Red Orbit :

 

Russia and Greece will set up a joint venture on a parity basis for building the Greek section of the South Stream gas pipeline, the Russian Industry and Energy Ministry reported.

The annual capacity of the gas pipeline section passing through Greece should be at least 10 billion cubic meters.

Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko and Greek Development Minister Christos Folias signed a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in building and operating the Greek portion of the South Stream gas pipeline following a high level meeting in Moscow on Tuesday.

The South Stream project envisions the construction of a gas pipeline across the Black Sea from the Beregovaya compressor station in the Dzhubga area in the Krasnodar territory to the Bulgarian city of Varna. The Black Sea stretch of the pipeline will be about 900 kilometers long. The pipeline will have an annual capacity of 31 billion cubic meters. It will be laid at a maximum depth of over 2,000 meters.

The land segment of the South Stream pipeline will further go into two directions, one to southern Italy and the other to Central Europe via Hungary and the Austrian gas hub of Baumgarten.

The Italian Eni will be Gazprom's (RTS: GAZP) partner in the construction of the sea section of the pipeline, while national gas companies or authorized state companies will help build the land portion. Russia signed relevant agreements with Serbia in January and with Hungary in February.

The construction may start in 2008 or 2009, and the pipeline's operation should begin in 2013.