Quote Originally Posted by Sarmatian View Post
It won't be just Russian gas, it will be also gas from several countries around Caspian Lake. I don't expect project to be finished before 2012-13 and then it'll take several years to build it. I think it will be finished in the latter part of the next decade, 2015-2020, somewhere in that period.
Actually, I don't rely on the South Stream project very much. I very much doubt the whole thing. As far as I know, Gazprom has yet to show even a pre-feasibility study for South Stream, clarify its proposed routes, and prove that it can fill the South Stream pipeline to the planned capacity.

The South Stream project seems to me like a political and strategic bluff. I think it tries to hamper the carrying out of the EU-planned, US-backed Nabucco route for Caspian gas to Europe, largely duplicating that itinerary, so as to discourage investment in that project. I really hope the Nabucco structure will be built ahead of South Stream because it would represent a valid alternative to Russian gas for Europe.