Gazprom and OMV forge pipeline through Austria

Each will hold a 50% stake in a new company that will build the South Stream pipeline

Gazprom and OMV have agreed to build a section of the South Stream pipeline through Austria. Alexei Miller, chairman of Gazprom’s management committee, and Gerhard Roiss, OMV’s chief executive, signed a shareholders agreement for South Stream Austria at a meeting in Vienna on 24 June. Gazprom and OMV will each hold a 50% stake in the new company, which will take charge of building the Austrian section of the pipeline.  The Austrian portion will have a capacity of between 30 billion-32bn cm per year (cm/y) and will run from the Hungarian border to the end point in Baumgarten. Roiss said the agreement “cements the role of Baumgarten as a key European gas hub in Europe” and safeguards European