Serbian officials agreed in January last year to give Gazprom's oil subsidiary, Gazprom Neft, control of a majority stake in oil monopoly NIS in exchange for Serbia's inclusion in the South Stream pipeline. This new pipeline will begin operation by the end of 2015, and perhaps even earlier, according to the agreement that will be signed in the coming weeks, Mr Miller told reporters in Belgrade. "It will be by 31 December, 2015, not later. The project could be completed before that," Mr Miller said, adding he did not know where and when the deals would be signed. Gazprom Neft has agreed to pay $507.6 million for a 51% share in NIS, and has pledged additional investment by 2012. Local media, however, have reported that Belgrade has made the sale of NIS conditional on the construction of the South Stream pipeline, saying it would allow Russians control of a majority NIS stake only when the construction of South Stream begins. Analysts have said the deal was largely politically motivated. Russia was Serbia's main ally in its unsuccessful bid to block independence for its former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in February. Serbia's Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic, has said the price for NIS was insultingly low, but the country's parliament nevertheless ratified the agreement in September. South Stream is planned to transport Russian to Italy, and could partially replace the planned extension of Blue Stream from Turkey through Bulgaria and Serbia to Hungary and Austria. South Stream is also likely reduce the possibility of Gazprom joining the Nabucco pipeline project. The South Stream pipeline project was announced in June, 2007, when the Italian energy company Eni and Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding of construction for South Stream in Rome. An agreement to establish a joint project company for the commissioning of the marketing and technical feasibility studies for the project was signed in November that year, and on 18 January, 2008, Gazprom and Eni registered in Switzerland the joint-venture South Stream AG, equally owned by the two companies. The agreement between Russia and Bulgaria on Bulgaria's participation in the project was also signed on 18 January, 2008, setting up a jointly-owned company to build and operate the Bulgarian section of the pipeline. The agreement was ratified by Bulgarian Parliament on 25 July. The first agreement between Russia and Serbia was signed before the announcement of the South Stream project: on 20 December, 2006, Gazprom and Serbian state-owned gas company Srbijagas agreed to study construction of a gas pipeline running from Bulgaria through Serbia. On 25 January, 2008, Russia and Serbia signed an agreement to route a northern pipe of South Stream through Serbia, and on 25 February, 2008, an agreement to create a joint company to build the Serbian section of the pipeline and large gas storage facility near Banatski Dvor in Serbia, was signed. On the same day, Russia and Hungary agreed to set up an joint company to build and operate the Hungarian section of the pipeline, following which, on 29 April, 2008, Russia and Greece signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction and operation of the Greek section of the South Stream. The 900-km long offshore section of South Stream is planned to start at the Beregovaya compressor station on Russia's Black Sea coast, and would run to Bulgaria's Varna, crossing the continental shelf of Ukraine and Romania. This section would be built and operated by South Stream AG. From Varna, the pipeline splits into two routes: the south-western route would continue through Greece and the Ionian Sea to southern Italy; Greece has proposed that the southern pipe could also supply the Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline. The north-western pipeline will run through Serbia, Hungary, and Slovenia to Austria, ending at the Baumgarten gas storage. Another option is that the north-western route would run through Slovenia to northern Italy. It is also possible that branches would go through Bosnia and Herzegovina to the port of Ploce, and through Croatia to the port of Rijeka and onwards subsea to the Italian port of Trieste. A feasibility study is being prepared by Saipem, and it is expected to be completed by 2009. The construction is planned to be completed in less than three years after approval from European Union competition and regulatory authorities.