Serbia to Launch Construction of South Stream in Dec

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) met in Sochi on Tuesday. Photo by RIA Novosti

The construction of Serbia's South Stream section will begin in December 2012, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has announced after meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

The Serbian President invited Putin to inaugurate the construction work.

The South Stream gas pipeline is intended to transport up to 63 billion cubic meters of natural gas to central and southern Europe, diversifying Russian gas routes away from transit countries such as Ukraine.

Commenting on the anti-trust complaints brought by the European Commission against Russia's Gazprom, Putin expressed his hope that the problem would soon be overcome:

"I wish the questions that remain unclear to the European Commission get clarified as soon as possible to enable us to cooperate calmly. I hope that it will be so. We are implementing major infrastructure projects," he said, as cited by The Voice of Russia.

Nikolic said his first official visit to Russia, which ended Tuesday, marked the beginning of a "completely new phase" in relations between the two countries.

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