Russian gas pipeline to be built before EU rival
(MOSCOW) - The Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline has "every chance" of being completed before the European Union's rival Nabucco project, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Monday.
"South Stream has every chance of being realised before Nabucco," Shmatko was quoted as saying by the Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies.
"We will start implementing this project very soon," he added.
The South Stream pipeline project is being led by Russian energy giant Gazprom and Italy's Eni and would run under the Black Sea delivering gas to Europe.
The project is widely seen as a rival to Nabucco, a pipeline backed by the EU that would take gas from the Caspian region through Turkey towards Austria, bypassing Russian territory.
The EU has promoted Nabucco as a way to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and to avoid another disruption like January's gas crisis, when a price dispute between Russia and Ukraine cut supplies to over a dozen European countries.
But Moscow has repeatedly criticised Nabucco and experts have questioned whether there is enough gas to supply the ambitious pipeline project.
Last week, Gazprom and Eni agreed to increase South Stream's capacity to 63 billion cubic metres a year from 31 billion, in a meeting attended by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi.
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russian gas supply pipe before EU nabucco line..
Oh sure anybody can build a pipeline first.
The big question is what concessions will they demand from the EU in return in the middle of a frigid winter?
Will they turn off the gas supply at the first sign of disagreement from the EU and excercise their immature and unpredictable attitudes we all witnessed last winter?
You can bet your bottom Euros that they will.
International trade and transactions take trust and maturity.
Russia has not proven to have either yet and most likely will not for another 50 years.
At least not with putin around anyway.
EU politicians must avoid falling for the smoke and mirrors and focus on their own resources with Nabucco.
Another freezing winter while the russians are playing childish games is not and should not be an option - even if Italy is a partner.