German gas market leader E.ON could join Russia's South Stream pipeline project, the head of Russia's gas pipeline monopoly Gazprom said during a visit to Brussels, Interfax news agency reported.  

"The fact that E.ON Ruhrgas is present says something," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told reporters, referring to E.ON's presence at a Russian-European gas meeting that focused on the South Stream pipeline project.  The project will transport Russian gas under the Black Sea to Europe, bypassing traditional transit countries such as Ukraine.  "Such a major project cannot remain outside the field of vision of such a major partner as our long-standing partner (E.ON)," Miller said.

In March, Germany's Wintershall, a unit of BASF, said it would invest about €2 billion for a 15% stake in the project, in which Italy's Eni and France's EDF also have stakes.  South Stream is looking to gain more favour in the EU, which already supports the rival $10.8 billion Nabucco project that will sidestep Russia and Ukraine by piping gas directly from Central Asia to Europe under the Black Sea. The South Stream pipeline aims to transport up to 63 billion m3 of gas to central and southern Europe and the total investment cost is estimated at around $21.5 billion.