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.
Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton