Serbians Confirm South Stream Land Use

Serbia announced its government has passed legislation giving Russia's Gazprom and state-owned Srbijagas access to land to build the South Stream gas pipeline.

The $2.3 billion (€1.74bn) Serbian section of the pipeline was described by Serbian lawmakers as "the first and unique project of this kind and size," Bloomberg News reports. That means a South Stream joint venture could claim eminent domain over land along the 290-mile route of the pipeline to facilitate its construction. This avoids the need to negotiate with individual landowners for compensation.

Serbia currently depends largely on Hungary and Ukrainefor natural gas. The project is part of Gazprom's efforts to add diversity to its export options as about 20% of Russian gas for Europe heads through Ukraine's Soviet-era transit network.

South Stream Serbia is due for completion in 2015.