Villa Gernetto, April 26 (Interfax) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has stressed the importance of the South Stream gas pipeline's construction.
"South Stream is very important because it guarantees us the supply of Russian gas," he said at a joint press conference with Russian Prime Minsiter Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Berlusconi said with regret that transit of Russian gas through Ukraine had been halted last year. "South Stream is a guarantee that countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Italy will not go without gas," he said, adding that Russian accounted for 30% of gas imports to Italy. "Therefore, the Russian supplier is very important for us," he said.
