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Exploratory work on the South Stream gas pipeline through the Balkans should be finished so construction can move forward in late 2010, Russian officials said.
Russia aims to diversify its transit options to Europe with South Stream. The project is designed to carry as much as 2.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas each year through the Balkans and on to southern Europe.
"By September-October, exploratory work will be completed, and all the documentation may be ready to allow us to begin work on South Stream by the autumn," RIA Novosti quotes Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov in Berlin.
Russian energy giant Gazprom last week created its first special project management department to oversee developments of the South Stream gas pipeline.
The route for South Stream remains unsettled, however, as officials in Serbia bicker over the route for the 280-mile South Stream leg through their country.
The cities of Zajecar and Nis are mentioned as options, though Sergei Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman, said a decision depends on a detailed analysis of the potential route for South Stream.
Gazprom expects South Stream completion by 2015.
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