Signing the Annex to the Agreement between Shareholders, with General Manager of Plinovodi d.o.o. Mr. Marjan Eberlinc and Chairman of the Management Committee of OAO Gazprom Mr. Alexey Borisovich Miller as its signatories, represents the final step prior to incorporating the joint venture Južni tok Slovenija d.o.o., and at the same time defines crucial stages and the scope of the Project on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia. It is worth recalling that both Shareholders involved in the Project, Plinovodi d.o.o. and OAO Gazprom, have been very successfully cooperating on this thematically and technically extremely demanding Project since the conclusion of the Intergovernmental Agreement, which has also been confirmed by the last signature of the Annex to the Agreement between Shareholders on incorporating Južni tok Slovenija d.o.o.

Upon signing the final document on 27 February 2012 in Ljubljana, Plinovodi d.o.o. estimates that the South Stream Project on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia has reached the stage in which its role and importance gained a wider acknowledgement, that is within the framework of the whole South Stream Project, as well as mutual recognition within Slovenian borders in the field of various economic opportunities offered by such project in Slovenia. Furthermore, it is important as it makes the companies Plinovodi and OAO Gazprom even more visible and influential due to its significance for European energy infrastructure and future contribution to tailoring the energy policy with regard to reliable and secure gas supplies and diversification of energy transport routes for Europe.

Marjan Eberlinc, General Manager of Plinovodi d.o.o.

The parties discussed current issues of cooperation between Russia and Slovenia in the energy sector. Particular attention was paid to the South Stream project, in which from the Slovenian part is involved Plinovodi d.o.o.

Alexey Miller and General Director of Plinovodi d.o.o. Marjan Eberlinc signed the Additional Agreement to South Stream Slovenia LLC Shareholder’s Agreement. The document defines the configuration and parameters of the Slovenian section of the pipeline, based on the synthesis of the feasibility study.

In addition, on the basis of the Additional Agreement a joint project company South Stream Slovenia LLC will be established. The main objectives of the joint project company will conduct the procedures of spatial planning and environmental impact assessment, works on the basic design.

Following the visit the sides agreed to take a final investment decision on the South Stream project in November of this year.

Background:

In order to diversify the natural gas export routes Gazprom is planning to build a gas pipeline running under the Black Sea to the countries of Southern and Central Europe – the South Stream project.

Intergovernmental agreements were signed with Slovenia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Croatia and Austria in order to implement the onshore gas pipeline section.

On September 16, 2011 the South Stream Transport shareholders signed the Agreement for the offshore section of the project. Pursuant to the Agreement, the stakes in the offshore gas pipeline project are distributed as follows: Gazprom – 50 per cent, Italian Eni – 20 per cent, German Wintershall Holding and French EDF – 15 per cent each.

In the third quarter of 2011 the Consolidated Feasibility Study of South Stream was finalized and included the feasibility study of the offshore section and feasibility studies of the respective gas pipelines in the host countries of Southern and Central Europe.

The Consolidated Feasibility Study contains key engineering solutions of the project including their substantiation, environmental safety assessment and environmental measures, economic efficiency evaluation including capital and operational expenditures.

On December 30, 2011 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation authorized Gazprom to speed up the launch of the South Stream project and to start its construction in 2012.

On January 20, 2012 Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee held a meeting to approve the detailed action plan ensuring the South Stream gas pipeline construction launch in December 2012.