SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 24 (UPI) -- The South Stream natural gas pipeline is on schedule to meet European energy demands for at least the next 50 years, the Russian energy minister said.
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko spoke with the Standart newspaper prior to the launch of a major energy summit in Bulgaria.
Regional officials descended on Sofia on Friday for a two-day summit to discuss regional energy security, as well as the Nabucco and South Stream natural gas pipelines.
Nabucco would enable Caspian and Middle Eastern suppliers to transport natural gas to Europe, avoiding Russia and Ukraine. South Stream would bring Russian gas to southeastern Europe.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to boycott the Sofia meeting over Nabucco and has said that sidelining Russia was detrimental to its relationship with Europe.
Shmatko discounted the effects of the boycott on South Stream plans, however.
"Regarding South Stream, our decision is to have its pipelines up and running no later than 2015," he said. "And so shall it be."
South Stream would carry around 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to European markets each year.
"The resource basis will be linked to Russian gas deposits, and Russia has enough gas to secure deliveries to Europe in the next 50, even the next 100 years," the energy minister said.
