SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 21 (UPI) -- Russian energy monopoly Gazprom said Tuesday it will sign agreements with Bulgaria and others this year for the South Stream gas pipeline to southeast Europe.
Alexander Medvedev, deputy director at Gazprom, said that Bulgaria, along with Serbia and Greece, will sign the necessary agreements on the $12.9 billion project in 2009, the Sofia News Agency reports.
South Stream would bring an estimated 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from Central Asia and Russia to Italy through the Balkans. Planners anticipate a launch date of 2013.
Plans to build portions of the pipeline through Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia have been approved already by their respective governments.
Medvedev called on the European Union to put its support behind the project as a means to diversify and secure its energy sector.
The majority of Russian gas bound for Europe travels through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine. South Stream would travel along a route through the Balkans that avoids Ukrainian territory.
In March, however, Europe approved a modest financial package for a rival pipeline, Nabucco, to satisfy its energy-security objectives.
