Russia, Serbia ink South Stream deal

BELGRADE, Serbia, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom signed a protocol with its Serbian counterpart Srbijagas for a major stake in a consortium managing the South Stream gas pipeline.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday to meet Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic to discuss energy cooperation, Itar-Tass reports.

Gazprom takes a 51 percent stake in a joint company formed with Srbijagas. South Stream would bring natural gas from Central Asia and Russia to European markets through the Black Sea.

South Stream is one of the options for Russia to expand its European gas infrastructure. Most of the Russian gas bound for Europe travels through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine, and tensions between Kiev and Moscow complicate the regional energy sector.

Both the Russian and Serbian companies agreed to form Banatski Dvor as a joint company for gas storage facilities with Gazprom as the majority shareholder.

The joint pipeline company South Stream Srbija will be formed within 30 days according to the terms of the protocol signed Tuesday.