First South Stream gas for Bulgaria to be available in 2015

Gazprom shareholders are meeting in Moscow. Its CEO Alexey Miller rounded up the company's achievements.

South Stream, a pipeline from Russia to Europe through the Black Sea will be launched in December 2015, supplying Bulgaria with gas. It will be launched according to the 1+2+1 principle. Bulgaria will receive 63 billion cubic meters of gas in late 2017 - early 2018.

Gazprom owns 50% of the project.

Gazprom is competing with the Southern Gas Corridor, Nabucco West, a priority project of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Consortium to transport gas to Europe.

Gazprom earned over 3.5 trillion rubles last year, increasing profit by 23% compared with 2010. Net profit totaled about 880 billion rubles, exceeding the figure of 2010 2.4-fold, RIA Novosti reports.

The Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District provides more gas than US shale gas, that had exceeded Russian output 2009.