MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. Russia expects all remaining technical issues regarding the construction of the Pakistan Stream (formerly known as North-South) gas pipeline to be agreed upon in the near future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Pakistan’s News International newspaper.

"We are making necessary efforts to start the construction of the North-South gas pipeline - the flagship project in the energy sector," he said. "We hope that all remaining technical issues will be agreed upon in the very near future."

In his words, Russian companies are also ready to participate in the modernization of the energy sector and the railroad system of Pakistan.

The intergovernmental agreement between the two countries was signed in October 2015. The sides were to sign commercial agreements in 2016 and commission the pipeline by 2018. However, project implementation timeframe has been postponed several times since then.

In line with the project, the 1,100-km-long pipeline will have a capacity to pump 12.4 billion cubic meters of gas annually.