Today in Sochi Gazprom Management Committee Chairman Alexey Miller and ENI Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi the second Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding between Gazprom and ENI of June 23, 2007 on further actions as part of the South Stream project implementation.

The Addendum contemplates increasing the throughput of the submerged section of the South Stream gas pipeline from 31 to 63 billion cubic meters of gas a year as well as regulates the gas marketing issues within the project.

Alexey Miller and Paolo Scaroni agreed that signing this document was another confirmation of the companies’ firm intention to continue developing the South Stream project given its strategic significance and considerable contribution to reliable gas deliveries to Europe.

Background:

On June 23, 2007 Gazprom and ENI inked the Memorandum of Understanding for the South Stream project implementation. The MoU determines the areas of cooperation between the two companies in designing, financing, constructing and managing the South Stream.

Under the MoU, South Stream’s submerged section will run under the Black Sea from the Russian to the Bulgarian coast. The total length of the pipeline section across the Black Sea will average 900 kilometers, with maximum depths to be in excess of 2,000 meters.

On November 22, 2007 Gazprom and ENI signed an Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding for the South Stream project implementation, which stipulated setting up a 50/50 special purpose company for performing marketing research and developing a feasibility study for the project.

On January 18, 2008 South Stream AG, the special purpose company, was registered in Switzerland.