Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Italy’s ENI signed a memorandum of understanding on 3 December to grant French power group EDF a stake in the South Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea. The deal was among a raft of agreements signed between Russian and Italian companies as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met on 3 December in Rome.
“The South Stream, as well as the North Stream, aims to make European energy secure and so everyone wins if both projects become realities,” Medvedev said.
The South Stream project, a joint venture between ENI and Gazprom aims to bring gas from the Caspian area, as well as Russia, under the Black Sea, to Bulgaria, bypassing Ukraine. “Our goal is that the South Stream does not cross Ukrainian territory. That’s why we’ve made every effort to convince Turkey to allow the South Stream through its territorial waters,” Berlusconi said.
Berlusconi noted that the purpose of the deal was not to compete with Nabucco. “This project will guarantee to the whole of Europe - particularly the Balkans, but Italy as well - a continuity of gas supply from Siberia. It does not compete with any other pipeline,” the Italian premier said.
The plan to make EDF a minority shareholder in the project to bring more Russian gas to Europe was announced during a visit to France by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin two weeks ago. EDF officials have said they expect a 10% share.
Gazprom’s chief executive, Alexei Miller, told reporters in Rome that EDF would join South Stream some time in the first half of next year, perhaps as early as the first quarter.
He refused to speculate on the size of the EDF share, or whether it would come from ENI or Gazprom. He said these aspects had not been discussed at the meetings on 3 December. “We have started working with EDF in many dimensions, including electric power, underground storage, swap operations and others,” Miller said.
Medvedev and Berlusconi held tête-à-tête talks, then members of the delegations joined the leaders of both countries. Russia involves nine ministers, heads of several federal agencies and services and chiefs of key companies, which cooperate with Italy.
Earlier, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and his Italian counterpart Claudio Scajola agreed that Russia and the EU should maintain a constructive dialogue in the energy sector.
In an interview with Il Sole 24 ORE daily, Shmatko and Scajola said: “The EU cannot pursue an effective energy policy without Russia’s support and participation. On the other hand, the development of Russia’s energy sector requires the involvement of the EU and its member-countries.”
Italy “would like to take the leading position in this process, which would guarantee it the independence of economic systems through their full partnership”, the ministers of the two countries stressed.