The Russian and Greek governments signed an agreement to build a stretch of the South Stream gas pipeline in Greece.
The accord was signed during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis.
Under the agreement, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is expected to supply 10 billion cubic meters per year to Greece via the pipeline, Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said.
The South Stream pipeline is expected to be built by Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and Italian energy company Eni. The pipeline will run from Russia under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then branch into two stretches.
The first stretch is expected to run to the southwest via Bulgaria and Greece to Italy. The second stretch is expected to run to the northwest via Bulgaria to Central Europe. The pipeline's annual capacity is projected at 30 billion cubic meters. Gas supplies through the South Stream are expected to start in 2013.
Source: Prime Tass
