Gazprom Telecom, Slovenia's Comita set up telecom JV

The JV, South Stream Telecom, will also connect Gazprom subsidiaries with local companies participating in the gas pipeline project, Gazprom Telecom said in a statement earlier this month.

The companies signed the agreement during the visit of Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa to Moscow when the final investment decision on the implementation of the South Stream gas pipeline project on the Slovenian territory was adopted.

The joint company has been established as part of the partnership expansion between Russian and Slovenian energy companies and in line with the implementation of the South Stream project.

The construction of the South Stream pipeline is set to start in December. The first gas pipeline string is to be commissioned in late 2015.

South Stream, a project initiated by Gazprom and Italy's Eni, is expected to carry 63 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas per year under the Black Sea to Europe. Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and Greece are partners in the onshore section of the pipeline.