The European Commission does not view Russia-backed South Stream and Western Nabucco gas pipeline projects as rivals, European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Gettinger said on Thursday.
He praised both projects as important for the European Union but added that the European Commission would provide financial support only for Nabucco as a project making it possible to reduce dependence on Russia as a natural gas exporting country.
The South Stream project, designed to annually pump 31 billion cubic meters of Central Asian and Russian natural gas to the Balkans and on to other European countries, involves Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Italy and Greece.
The pipeline's capacity could be eventually reach to 63 billion cubic meters annually. The gas pipeline is expected to start operating in late 2015 and account for about 35% of Russian natural gas supplies to Europe.
The project is part of Russia's efforts to cut dependence on transit nations, particularly Ukraine. It is widely considered a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would also transport Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe but would bypass Russia.
BRUSSELS, March 4 (RIA Novosti)
