A worker checks wires at a gas pipe before a launching ceremony of the construction of South Stream pipeline in the Black Sea resort of Anapa, southern Russia, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. After years of delays and negotiations, Russian gas company Gazprom on Friday formally started construction of its Europe-bound South Stream pipeline, key to its strategy of eliminating shipping risks by bypassing transit nations like Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Karpukhin, Pool)