Serbian venture on South Stream formed

BERN, Switzerland, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom and Serbian state-owned Srbijagas signed documents to create a joint company for the South Stream gas pipeline in Serbia.

Gazprom and Srbijagas signed and registered South Stream Serbia AG in Bern, Switzerland. The company will be tasked with preparing a feasibility study for the leg of the South Stream gas pipeline passing through Serbian territory.

The company will also move forward with plans for investments for the Serbian section of the pipeline. If funding materializes, Gazprom said, the joint company would design and operate the gas pipeline in Serbia.

South Stream, along with the Nord Stream counterpart, is included in an effort by Russia to diversify its gas transit options to its European customers.

A January gas dispute between Kiev and Moscow exposed a weakness in the regional gas transit networks as 80 percent of all Russian gas bound for Europe travels through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine.

The $36.5 South Stream project is designed to bring 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas to the Balkans each year.

Gazprom signed a series of South Stream initiatives with the Bulgarian, Greek and Serbian governments in May and has similar arrangements under way with Austria. A Slovenian deal was signed earlier this week.