Putin made the comment at a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in Moscow, at which the two countries agreed to work toward building Russia's new pipeline to southern and central Europe, South Stream.
Putin said South Stream would cost 10 billion euros ($12.7 billion) or less, given that contruction materials were getting cheaper around the world.
He also said South Stream's capacity could be higher than the projected 31 billion cubic metres a year. (Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Robin Paxton)
