Man with a plan: Sergei Shmatko
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Russia close to new South Stream deal
Russia is close to tying up Austrian and Slovenian participation in the proposed South Stream gas pipeline, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said today.
Russia also wants to make South Stream a "priority project" for the European Union, Reuters quoted Shmatko telling reporters following an EU-Russia summit in Khabarovsk.
"In the last two or three weeks, we've held a series of negotiations with Austrian and Slovenian partners about an intergovernmental agreement," Shmatko told reporters.
"This document is at an advanced level of preparation."
Russia last week pinned down support for South Stream from Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia.
Moscow wants to outpace the rival, Western-backed Nabucco pipeline, which would supply Europe with gas sourced from non-Russian producers.
Shmatko said Russia and its European partners in the project would request that Brussels grant South Stream priority status.
"We agreed with EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs that Russia once more, together with its European partners in the project, would prepare a circular for the European Commission about affording the project such status," Reuters quoted Shmatko as saying.