PORTO CERVO, Italy -- The South Stream gas pipeline that will transport Russian gas into Europe will have no funding difficulties and will be operative by the end of 2015, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said Wednesday.

"The current capex plans will be honored 100 percent. There are no problems whatsoever in funding it," Miller said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

South Stream, which will have a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters per year, will be built by Gazprom and Italy's Eni and will cross the Black Sea to reach Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Italy and possibly Austria.

"It is not competing with the Nabucco project," he said, adding that the feasibility study for the project will be decided by mid-2010. Nabucco is a rival pipeline project backed by the European Union.

Miller said a figure had already been set for the amount of gas Eni will be able to sell in the transit countries of South Stream but refused to give the number.

Miller also commented on problems with the supply of gas from Ukraine and Turkmenistan.

He said Ukraine now needed to pump in some 19.5 billion cubic meters of gas to replenish its storage sites, which will cost about $4.2 billion, adding that Ukraine's daily gas offtake fell sharply this week from last week.

"I will have a meeting with the Naftogaz head next week to see what's happening," he said.

Miller said he hoped the EU summit on June 18-19 would discuss the creation of a joint EU-Russian consortium to help fund EU gas supplies.

Asked when and under what terms Gazprom would restart Turkmenistan gas purchases, Miller said, "I intend to visit Turkmenistan in the next few days to discuss the gas situation."

Turkmenistan and Russia have been in talks since April over how to resume the flow of gas after it was severed by a gas pipeline explosion, which Turkmenistan says Russia caused.

Miller said there is more gas than necessary in Europe today, adding that no shortages are foreseeable in the short or long term. He said only 5 percent of reserves in the Arctic offshore fields have been explored.

Miller also said a shortage of oil and gas investment means that the sector will fail to meet demand when the global economy begins to recover.

There are no guarantees that further increases in oil demand will be supported by a sufficient growth in investments, he said.

Nobody has solved the issue of the "2012 supply gap," which may emerge later than thought but that will be deeper. "It means prices may even jump over the $250 hurdle we have forecast a year ago," Miller said, referring to a prediction that oil would reach that price this year.