Gazprom requested Romanian technical support for South Stream/ Romanian Economy minister Adriean Videanu: Russia's request does not mean Romania is invited to join the project

Russia’s request to receive Romanian technical support for the South Stream pipeline is by no means an invitation for Romania to join this project, Romania’s Economy minister Adriean Videanu declared on Thursday for NewsIn.

Videanu’s declarations follow Gazprom’s request to receive Romanian technical support, put forward during Videanu’s recent visit to Moscow. Romania’s Economy minister declared that Romania will offer technical data for the construction of the South Stream pipeline.

Videanu underlined that Romania’s number one objective is still Nabucco and explained that Russia most probably requested Romania’s support for their studies, as they had the same requests toward Turkey and Ukraine.

Gazprom and the Italian Eni company plan to build the South Stream pipeline to pass through the Black Sea, to transport gas to Italy and the Balkans, without passing through Ukraine. The project is estimated at 14 billion dollars.

Nabucco, on the other hand, plans to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia, starting 2013. Part of the project are OMV in Austria, Hungarian MOL company, Romanian Transgaz, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Turkish Botas and the German group RWE. The pipeline will cost about 7.9 billion euro according to the latest estimations.