UPDATE 1-EDF, Gazprom gas pipeline stake deal to come soon

* EDF, Gazprom CEOs hold meeting in Paris

* Discussed cooperation incl South Stream project stake

* To continue discussions

(Adds detail from company statements)

PARIS/MOSCOW, Oct 16 (Reuters) - French power group EDF (EDF.PA) expects to reach a deal soon with Russia's state-run Gazprom (GAZP.MM) to take a minority stake in its South Stream gas pipeline project, the company said.

EDF Chief Executive Pierre Gadonneix and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller met in Paris on Friday to discuss cooperation between the groups, the companies said in separate statements.

"Following a friendly and constructive meeting, the two CEOs confirmed their wish to continue discussions, which are expected to culminate in an agreement being signed in the near future," EDF said.

The South Stream pipeline is being built under the Black Sea and is seen as the main rival to the Nabucco pipeline, which is backed by the European Union and the United States and aims to reduce Europe's energy dependence on Russia by securing gas from the Caspian region.

Russia, which supplies a quarter of Europe's natural gas, wants to build gas supply routes quickly to bypass Ukraine and other ex-Soviet states after disputes over transit payments in recent years disrupted flows.

Italian oil group ENI (ENI.MI) is already involved in the South Stream project.

"Gazprom is interested in the development of long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation with EDF in many areas," Gazprom's Miller said in a statement.

"The basis of this cooperation will become the South Stream project, which is a strategically important project for increasing the reliability and stability of gas supplies to Europe."

Another French company, GDF Suez (GSZ.PA), is planning to take a 9 percent stake in Russia's Nord Stream, a pipeline which will go to Germany under the Baltic Sea. (Reporting by James Regan in Paris and Robin Paxton in Moscow)