Japan's Itochu is interested in financing construction of the South Stream gas pipeline via the Black Sea, as well as supplying pipes to the project, Itochu's COO for the Commonwealth of Independent States said in an interview published Friday.
"We are now in active discussions on [joining] the project. [The role of Itochu would be] to supply pipes and financing," Kiyoshi Fujitska told the in-house magazine of Russia's Gazprom.
Should the agreement on cooperation be reached, the pipes would be provided by Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. (MISI), Itochu's 50:50 joint venture with Japan's Marubeni, he said.
"We have had talks with Gazprom, presented our offers and hope to continue the dialogue," Fujitska added.
In April, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Itochu Corporation chairman Eizo Kobayashi discussed possible involvement of Itochu in Gazprom's projects, including the South Stream.
The South Stream pipeline, with a capacity of up to 63 billion cubic meters/year, is designed to bring Russian gas to Bulgaria and on to other European countries via the Black Sea.
From Bulgaria, the line is to be split into two pipelines to be built by Gazprom jointly with local partners.
Construction is expected to start in late 2012, with the first commercial deliveries scheduled for late 2015.
Gazprom owns a 50% stake in the South Stream subsea section.
Other stakeholders are Italy's Eni (20%), France's EDF (15%) and Germany's Wintershall (15%).
The CIS comprises 11 former Soviet republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Tajikistan.
