ST. PETERSBURG, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - The South Stream natural gas pipeline to the Balkans could be completed before the Russian-German Nord Stream pipeline, the Russian prime minister said on Thursday.

"The project has every chance of being completed before the Baltic project - Nord Stream," Vladimir Putin said.

The 25 billion-euro ($36.5 billion) South Stream project is designed to annually pump 31 billion cubic meters of Central Asian and Russian gas to the Balkans and on to other European countries, bypassing Ukraine, which has frequent disputes with Russia over gas supplies and transits. The pipeline's capacity is expected to be eventually increased to 63 billion cubic meters.

The South Stream project was originally scheduled to go online in 2013 whereas Nord Stream is expected to be fully completed in 2012.

The Nord Stream pipeline, which will pump gas from Siberia to Europe under the Baltic Sea, bypassing East European transit countries, is being built jointly by Gazprom, Germany's E.ON Ruhrgas and BASF-Wintershall, and Dutch gas transportation firm Gasunie at an estimated cost of $12 billion.