By Vitalii Usenko, April 30, 2014

It appears that work on the South Stream pipeline project will continue, reports ITAR-TASS. On April 29, 2014, South Stream Transport BV signed a contract for the construction of the second line of the offshore section (including the Crimean Black Sea shelf, currently occupied by Russia) of the South Stream project with Swiss company Allseas Group. The contract also foresees deepwater laying of the pipeline, so an additional contract was signed with Saipem, an Italian oil and gas contractor, to ensure construction. On the same day, Gazprom signed a memorandum on the construction of an onshore section of the South Stream in Austria, according to Alexei Miller, CEO of Gazprom. Additional agreements to build the onshore sections of the pipeline,have been signed agreement with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, and Croatia.