(ANSA) - TRIESTE - Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and CEO of Gazprom Alexey Miller, called for ''an acceleration in the construction of the South Stream pipeline'' after a meeting held last Wednesday between the pemier and the head of the Russian energy giant, according to a press release issued by Hungarian government. The press release says that Orban and Miller met in Budapest and have addressed the problem of ''the current situation in Ukraine''. This crisis shows that the pipeline would be crucial, ''to ensure that gas supplies can reach Europe''. For this reason, the statement continues, ''its implementation needs to be accelerated''.

This press release, moreover, points out that South Stream aims ''to guarantee Russian gas supplies supply to Europe via Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine'' and underlines that the supplies via Kiev ''were disrupted several times over the last few years'', due to disputes with Moscow. Orban and Miller have also discussed about new developments, originating from Austria's re-entry into the project. (ANSA).