He was speaking on Radio and Television Serbia on the occasion of today's beginning of construction on the pipeline.
"Launching such a big investment on 470 km calls for large-scale construction work in which companies from Serbia will certainly participate," Aksentijevic said, estimating that about 2,000 people would be hired.
The construction of the Serbian section will begin on December 20 in the Banat region. The first pipes are to be laid in the next three years and the section completed in five.
Aksentijevic said it was unlikely that the 2009 gas crisis, when Serbia remained completely without gas, could recur, recalling that "the crisis occurred because of the Ukraine and not Russia."
Construction on South Stream begins today in Anapa on the Black Sea. This EUR 16 billion investment is expected to bring Europe energy security. A Serbian delegation led by Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic travelled to Russia for the inauguration ceremony.