The government’s decision will have to be backed by an approval from the new cabinet formed after the recently concluded parliamentary elections.
The Russian-Serbian inter-governmental oil and gas cooperation agreement, and the protocol of the basic terms, for Gazpromneft’s acquisition of Naftna Industrija Srbije’s stake, were signed early in January 2008.
According to the Daily News Bulletin, the agreement will enable Serbia to join the South Stream gas pipeline project. The Serbian section of the proposed gas pipeline is expected to help Russia to route its gas supply to the Balkans and other European countries via the Black Sea, Bulgaria and Serbia.
The South Stream gas pipeline, covering 900 kilometers and with a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year, will stretch from Dzhubgi district in Russia’s Krasnodar Territory towards Varna in Bulgaria across the Black Sea. It will then continue in two directions – northern Italy and central Europe.
