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| Russia reaches accords to build pipelines through Hungary, Serbia.
The accords were signed during visits by First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the frontrunner in the ongoing Russian presidential race, to Hungary and Serbia. Russia and Hungary concluded a preliminary accord on the issue and are expected to sign a further intergovernmental agreement on Thursday, Medvedev, who is also chairman of Russian natural gas giant Gazprom's board of directors, said.
A state-owned Hungarian company and Gazprom will set up a 50-50 joint venture to build the pipeline stretch, Medvedev said.
The annual capacity of the stretch is projected at no less than 10 billion cubic meters, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said.
The stretch is expected to cost approximately U.S. $2 billion, he added.
Russia and Hungary also agreed to build a gas storage facility with a capacity of 1 billion cubic meters, Gyurcsany said.
Additionally, Gazprom and Serbian natural gas company Srbijagas signed an agreement to set up a joint venture to build a 400-kilometer pipeline with an annual capacity of over 10 billion cubic meters through Serbia.
The accord elaborates on a preliminary protocol signed by Russia and Serbia last month.
Medvedev said that Gazprom and Srbijagas would hold, respectively, 51% and 49% in the venture.
Medvedev also said Gazprom was about to finalize a deal to buy the Serbian government's 51% stake in Serbian oil and gas company Naftna Industrija Srbije, or NIS.
A preliminary accord on the purchase was signed last month.
The South Stream pipeline is expected to be built by Gazprom and Italian energy company Eni.
The pipeline is expected to run from Russia under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then branch into two stretches.
The first stretch is expected to run to the southwest via Bulgaria and Greece to Italy.
The second stretch is expected to run to the northwest via Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Austria. The pipeline's annual capacity is projected at 30 billion cubic meters.
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