Macedonia and Russia are going to strengthen their energy cooperation and Macedonia will be included in the so-called South Stream gas pipeline. After signing the clearing debt settlement agreement with Russia on Saturday, Russian Gazprom is expected to start building a branch connecting Macedonia to the gas pipeline South Stream over the next few months.

After meeting his Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov, Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev said that Macedonia and Russia should enhance their energy cooperation. Macedonian President Ivanov said that the entrance of Lukoil and Gazprom into Macedonia puts an end to Macedonia’s energy insecurity, considering that Macedonia has not been on any energy map so far.

According to the agency e-Reporter, the president of Gazprom’s management board, Alexey Miller, said at a press conference that a technical and economic analysis should be made of the possibility for making Macedonia part of the gas pipeline.

“It will take 2-3 months to make this analysis and in the event of a positive solution, there could be an inter-government agreement on including Skopje,” Miller said.