Slovenian Economy Minister Matej Lahovnik and Russian Energy Minister Sergey Ivanovich Shmatko signed on Saturday in Moscow an agreement on the construction of the Slovenian leg of South Stream, a EUR 10bn gas pipeline with a capacity of about 60 billion cubic metres. PMs Borut Pahor and Vladimir Putin were also present at the signing.

The agreement between Slovenia and Russia is the last in the series of agreements with European partners Russia needed to round off the project. Slovenia thus joined the group of countries comprising Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary which are to take part in the construction the pipeline.

The signing marks the end of long and strenuous negotiations in which Slovenia and Russia had to work out important details, including the ownership of the company which would build the Slovenian leg of the gas pipeline.

Scheduled to be complete in 2015, the EUR 10bn pipeline will cross several countries in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Greece, however the exact route is yet to be defined.

The Slovenian section of the pipeline will have a capacity of about 8 billion cubic metres of natural gas and will transport gas into northern Italy or Austria.

Prime minister Pahor and Putin took the opportunity also to discuss bilateral relations and further opportunities for economic cooperation, according to Pahor's office.

The pair also touched on the strengthening of political dialogue between the two countries, which has seen an important boost when Slovenia was at the helm of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2005 and during its EU presidency in 2008.

Slovenia and Russia have also agreed on forming a joint business club and have expressed commitment to continue the successful cooperation despite the economic crisis.

Later today, Pahor will watch the football World Cup qualifier between Slovenia and Russia. After the signing, which took place only a few hours before the scheduled start of the match, Putin said the match was the most important event of the day, joking that he wanted to sign the South Stream agreement before relations between the two countries turn sour because of Russia's football victory.

On a similar note, Pahor stressed after a government session last month that he would "shine" the boots of the national football team if they win in Russia and make it to the World Cup in South Africa. "I very much want to have this difficult task next month," he said.