ATHENS, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom and a Greek gas company have agreed on setting up a consortium to build the South Stream gas pipeline section across Greece, a source close to the negotiations said on Tuesday.

"The accords have been agreed upon and their signing is expected in coming days," the source said.

The South Stream pipeline is designed to annually pump 31 billion cubic meters of Central Asian and Russian gas to the Balkans and on to other European countries, but its capacity could be increased by a further 16 billion cu m. The project involves Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Italy and Greece.

Russia and Greece signed in April 2008 an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction and operation of the Greek section of the South Stream gas pipeline. In the fall of 2008, Gazprom and Greece's DESFA started talks on a consortium to implement the project.