OREANDA-NEWS. March 11, 2009. In the Russian Government Reception House Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee Alexey Miller and President of MFB (Hungarian Development Bank) Dr. Janos Eros signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany a Basic Cooperation Agreement for the construction of a gas pipeline and transit of natural gas across Hungary within the South Stream project.

The Basic Cooperation Agreement determines the principles of the cooperation between the parties at the pre-investment and follow-up project stages. In particular, the Agreement fixes the terms, formation procedures and operation mechanisms for a joint venture to be set up on a parity basis for developing a construction project for the Hungarian section of the South Stream gas pipeline.

“The relationships between Russia and Hungary in the gas industry date back more than 30 years. Over this period we have established good partnership relations with a huge potential for further development. Today we are making another step forward to fulfill this potential to the maximum extent possible.

Over the past year Russia and Hungary have performed a big scope of preparatory work aimed at the South Stream project execution. We are confident that Hungary will play an important role in this project and its participation in the gas pipeline construction will be a guarantee of success,” said Alexey Miller.