South Stream construction in Serbia to kick off in late 2013

Works on the Serbian section of the South Stream gas pipeline will get underway towards the end of this year, it was announced in Moscow on Thursday after a meeting between Serbia's Minister of Mining Milan Bacevic and Alexey Miller, chairman of the Management Committee at Gazprom, Tanjug news agency reports.

According to a release issued by Gazprom, Bacevic and Miller talked about ongoing energy cooperation between the two countries and agreed that the South Stream project is being implemented at the agreed-upon pace.

They also discussed methods of financing the building of the pipeline's Serbian stretch.

Serbia's Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, who headed a government delegation on a visit to Moscow, said Wednesday that Gazprom is prepared to finance the construction of the entire length of the pipeline in Serbia in the amount of EUR 1.7 billion. Serbia would pay back the Russian company through transit taxes which will be collected once the pipeline becomes operational.