OREANDA-NEWS.  Budapest hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary.

The parties addressed the current state of the South Stream project and highlighted that it was progressing on schedule. The gas pipeline is being constructed in Bulgaria and Serbia; the offshore section laying will start in autumn.

In Hungary FEED is currently underway in addition to the spatial planning and environmental impact assessment (EIA) activities. Considering the plans of constructing a South Stream section in Austria, the joint decision was made to additionally investigate the new route of the Hungarian section towards Austria.

The meeting participants expressed their confidence that the choice of the gas pipeline route wouldn't affect the project schedule and first gas would be supplied via the Hungarian gas pipeline section in early 2017.

Background

South Stream is Gazprom's global infrastructure project aimed at constructing a gas pipeline with a capacity of 63 billion cubic to Southern and Central Europe for the purpose of diversifying the natural gas export routes and eliminating transit risks. First gas via South Stream will be supplied in late 2015. The gas pipeline will reach its full capacity in 2018.
The final investment decision on the Hungarian section of South Stream was made in 2012. South Stream Hungary, joint project company established on a par by Gazprom and MVM is constructing South Stream in Hungary. The gas pipeline was granted the status of a national significance project in the country.
In March 2013 Gazprom and MVM approved the Action Plan regarding the implementation of the South Stream project in Hungary until 2017.
On April 29, 2014 Gazprom and OMV signed the Memorandum of Intent to implement the South Stream project in Austria. The Memorandum reflects the parties' intentions to construct the Austrian section of the South Stream gas pipeline with the throughput capacity of up to 32 billion cubic meters a year and the end point in Baumgarten.