Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said Tuesday that "the freezing" of the South Stream pipeline project was a problem for Serbia.

Gazprom, the state gas company, has been at the forefront of Moscow’s push to expand its influence into the Balkans – a region beset with economic and political difficulties.

The South Stream project is continuing as planned, an official of the Russian Energy Ministry's pool and gas department said on Monday

Although it is in Serbia’s interest that the South Stream gas pipeline is built, the government in Belgrade faces the fine balance between the interest of providing energy security and the need to harmonize with the policy of the EU, which it is looking to join.

South Stream project, the EU continues to produce new ideas on how to block the proposed gas route. This is in the midst of a confused political situation regarding the pipeline's entry point in Bulgaria, a country about to enter a polarized early general election.

Gazprom is working with Serbia to kickstart construction works of the local leg of the South Stream project, with newspapers reporting that the operations could start as soon as in October.

Energy ministers from Russia and several countries in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), chamber of commerce heads and other high level speakers gathered in Budapest, Hungary on 16 September to grapple with energy security issues at the Gas Dialogues event Development and Use of Natural Gas in the Danube Region: Prospects and Opportunities.

Northeast natural gas spot prices particularly sensitive to temperature swings

South Stream in Serbia to be completed on time — Srbijagas CEO. Minor corrections have been made to the project to redirect the route in Vojvodina from Italy to the Austrian city of Baumgarten, the biggest gas storage facility in Europe.

South Stream: A Bridge Between East and West