Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Wednesday confirmed he had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday regarding "the cancelled" South Stream gas pipeline.

Faymann said the project had been "in the interests of Austria," in that it would provide long-term energy security and provide an additional source of supply. He added however that implementation would have been possible only where it "conforms with EU law," Austria Press Agency reported.

He confirmed the recent comments by Russian Ambassador to Austria Sergey Nechayev that part of the reason the project was cancelled last week was due to Bulgaria's reluctance to let the pipeline be built on its territory.

More exact details regarding the conversation were not made available, though Faymann confirmed the news from an official press release from the Russian government Tuesday that the two leaders also discussed cooperation in the energy sector.

Some government and industry figures remain hopeful the South Stream project can still go ahead, with Austrian oil and gas giant OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss saying last week he still had hope for it, and German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Energy Sigmar Gabriel voicing a similar opinion in Brussels on Tuesday. Endit

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