LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, March 23 (UPI) -- Russian gas company Gazprom said it agreed to create a joint venture with a Slovenian company to give further impetus to the South Stream pipeline.
Alexei Miller, board chairman of Gazprom, met in Ljubljana with Marjan Eberlinc, president of Slovenian energy company Geoplin plinovodi, to sign an agreement creating South Stream Slovenia LLC.
"The project's significance is even greater because of the challenges that global energy policy faces due to the consequences of a wide range of natural and social phenomena we have been witnessing recently," Eberlinc said in a statement.
German energy company BASF/Wintershall joined the project earlier this year. The momentum follows claims last week that Moscow was abandoning South Stream in favor of liquefied natural gas terminals in the Black Sea.
South Stream would move 2.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to Europe per year after it passes through the Turkish waters of the Black Sea. The pipeline would branch into two sections -- one to Greece and Italy and another through Austria -- once it reaches Bulgarian territory.
Ankara hasn't signed off on building South Stream through its territorial waters, however. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said LNG terminals could replace that section of the pipeline, though Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said Ankara's delays could be domestic maneuvering.
"It might be connected with domestic politics, as they are preparing for elections," he was quoted by Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying.
