South Stream Activity in Serbia, Macedonia

Officials with the Russian company Gazprom are expected to visit Skopje to hold talks with the Macedonian authorities about the idea to build a South Stream section in the country,

“The technical team working on South Stream project is ready to visit Macedonia to hold talks about the possibility to build a pipeline section in the country,” said Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly.

According to the Macedonian television station Kanal 5 television station, South Stream will not be only topic on the agenda, because Macedonia wants to raise gas supplies from Russia.

Meanwhile, in Serbia, construction has started on a leg of a natural gas pipeline that could boost plans for the South Stream pipeline for Europe.

In welcoming Alexander Konuzin, the Russian envoy to Serbia to the start of the first construction stage, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said the project was an important step for his country's push to reduce the environmental impact of more conventional energy resources.

The Serbian government has stated that the project would be completed by 2011. The pipeline needs to be completed before the South Stream pipeline to advance state development, the government added. Russia has offered to site a major gas hub in Serbia, a traditional ally. Moscow has already a series of inter-governmental agreements with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia for roles in the pipeline.

Source: Upi.com , Focus News Agency