/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Preparation for launching South Stream is a positive phenomenon, according to Yakutgazprom director general Andrey Zagorsky.

“South Stream can be put into operation earlier than Nabucco. Under the economic crisis, the project management concluded agreements with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Greece and now considers the possibility of extending the pipeline through the Black Sea,” he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

At that he noted that the situation with construction of Nabucco is rather obscure. “Initially, it was planned to finish construction by 2013. But now no one dares to announce the final date. That is why Azerbaijan benefits by selling its gas to Russia, which will start purchasing from 2010,” Mr. Zagorsky said.

As to the rise in oil price, he said that it’s a natural phenomenon for summer. “It’s conditioned by the holiday season and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. In October and November prices usually fall,” he said.

Gazprom signed an agreement with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to buy 500 million cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan annually from January 1, 2010, with supplies expected to increase in the future. The agreed gas price with Azerbaijan is higher than the $300 per 1,000 cu m that Russia offered to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan earlier in the year.