OREANDA-NEWS. At the headquarters of OAO Gazprom a working meeting has been held between the Chairman of the Management Committee Alexey Miller and the OMV Chairman of the Executive Board, CEO Gerhard Roiss.

During the meeting a Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the Austrian section of the South Stream gas pipeline was signed. The Memorandum sets forth the intentions of the parties to implement the project of construction of the Austrian section of the South Stream gas pipeline with the capacity of up to 32 bcm/year and its end point in Baumgarten (coming from the Black-Sea coastline of Bulgaria, crossing Serbia, Hungary and ending in Austria). All the permits necessary for the construction are planned to be obtained by the end of 2015, first gas deliveries are expected in 2017 and full commissioning of the Austrian section of the gas pipeline is scheduled by January 2018.

“The need for construction and the benefits of South Stream Project for Europe are patent. South Stream Project is aimed at enhancing energy security of the European consumers, which has always been regarded as the top priority for ОАО Gazprom. It is noteworthy that Gazprom and OMV have already established a solid international law basis for the implementation of this project - an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Austria signed in April 2010”, so Alexey Miller.

In his turn, OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss stated: “This is an important step to significantly increase Austria's security of gas supply and will further strengthen Baumgarten's role as key hub for gas in Central and Eastern Europe. Our nearly 50 years lasting partnership with Gazprom has contributed to this successful step in further diversifying Europe's energy supply routes.”

Gerhard Roiss also handed a letter from Minister of Economy of the Republic of Austria Reinhold Mitterlehner to Alexey Miller, in which Mr Mitterlehner expresses support for the efforts of the parties on the implementation of the South Stream Project on the Austrian territory.

The Memorandum also addresses a participation by Gazprom in the Central European Gas Hub (“CEGH”) and provisions of storage capacities by OMV for Gazprom in Austria thus to further enhance the security of supply in Austria.