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South Stream Heads to Italy

By The Moscow Times

Dec. 14, 2011

Gazprom picked Italy over Austria as the destination of its South Stream gas pipeline project, a source at the company said Wednesday.

Local Russian media reported that the European Commission had blocked Gazprom's acquisition of a 50 percent stake in the gas trading platform of the Central European Gas Hub in Austria — an outlet also coveted by the rival EU-backed Nabucco gas link.

"There will be no transit through Austria, only a spur will run to them," a Gazprom source said Wednesday. The source added that South Stream would terminate in Italy, rather than in Central Europe. A Gazprom spokesman declined to comment.

(Reuters)

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