"The [South Stream] project is very important for Serbia: it could have provided a certain number of jobs for our citizens during the construction period, not to mention the profit from the pipeline's operation and subsequent revenues from gas transit. Therefore, the cancellation of the project could cause serious damage to Serbia," Vojislav Vuletic said.
He added that Europe has "harmed itself" by creating obstacles on the way to implementing the project.
In 2012 Russian energy giant Gazprom announced the construction of a South Stream pipeline across the Black Sea to reduce the chances of Russian gas being delivered to central and southern Europe through Ukraine being interrupted. The pipeline was expected to be fully operational by 2018.
The European Commission has taken a critical stance on the project, claiming that, according to EU Third Energy Package, it is illegal to own a pipeline and produce the natural gas that flows through it at the same time.
On December 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was not willing to continue implementing the project in light of the European Commission's "non-constructive" stance on the matter. Gazprom CEO later announced that Russia is scrapping the project due to EU opposition to it and has no plans to revive it.
