Russia’s Gazprom Invests $1B in Serbia

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Tuesday Russia’s major Gazprom gas company will invest nearly $1 billion in Serbia’s pipelines.

Energy Minister Radomir Naumov said capacity will be 20 billion cubic meters of gas per year, running from Turkey via Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, to the north of Italy.

Kostunica made the announcement on the heels of the sale of the national Mobi63 mobile phone company to Norway’s Telenor for $1.93 billion, and said the Gazprom investment was a positive sign for the country, which he said had created a good legal and economic basis for economic development, Belgrade’s Tanjug news agency reported.

The whole of Serbia will have a significant benefit from the sale of the mobile phone company, and a new, exceptionally important investment by Gazprom of nearly $1 billion is to follow, Kostunica said.