The Serbian economy will suffer from the loss of potential jobs and transit fees after the construction of the pipeline, which was supposed to pump gas from Russia through Bulgaria and Serbia to Western Europe, was halted by Putin on Monday, officials and experts said on Wednesday.

Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Aleksandar Antic has said that Serbia has suffered great damage from the halting of the South Stream gas pipeline.

“All losses relating to the investments in the project to date are marginal compared to the possible loss of the investment of 2.1 billion euros and the fact that our companies are due to execute the construction works totaling 500 million euros,” Antic said.

“Two billion [euros’] worth of investment will not enter Serbia if the construction of South Stream really stops,” Vojislav Vuletic from the Gas Association Serbia told BIRN.

“In this case, our people will not be employed on the maintenance of the system, our construction companies will not be involved, and Serbia will lose profits from transit taxation,” Vuletic added.

Vladimir Medovic, an energy expert, agreed that Serbia faces losses in several areas.

“If Russia really gives up the pipeline, Serbia will lose both South Stream and NIS [a Serbian energy company part-sold to Russian gas giant Gazprom],” Medovic told BIRN.

“Serbia sold 51 per cent of NIS to Gazprom and the price was low – 400 million euro, because it was expecting the South Stream gas pipeline to be built. Selling NIS was supposed to be an entrance ticket that Serbia paid for in order to get South Stream,” he explained.

But he also said that he fears that even if the pipeline is built, Serbia might face negative consequences because Gazprom will have a monopoly on the market.

According to media reports, Serbia has spent 30 million euro so far on the South Stream pipeline, including land acquisition, preparatory work and projects.

Work on the Bulgarian section of the pipeline started in October 2013, but was suspended in June after the European Commission said it could be breaking EU competition rules. Serbia, where work started in November 2013, never suspended its commitment to the project.

South Stream was initially scheduled for completion in 2018, with Russian gas company Gazprom seeking to diversify its supply routes to Europe and avoid pumping gas via Ukraine.

But souring relations between the EU and US with Russia over Ukraine brought the fate of the project into question.

Putin said that the decision to stop the South Stream project came as a result of pressure from the EU, which said it might break competition rules.

“If Europe does not want to implement [South Stream], then it will not be done. We are now going to focus our energy resources in other directions,” he said.