The Nabucco project for a pipeline connecting the gas-rich Caspian region and
the European
consumer markets has made a
step forward after the completion of consultations with the local
administrations of the nine Bulgarian regions which the route of the pipeline
will cross, the mediapool e-zine said on November 13.
Referring to a press
release of
Nabucco Gas Pipeline
International GmbH, the site said that the first part of the public discussions
of the project, as well as its environmental and socio-economic assessment had
been completed and that the project is supported in full by all
local
administrations.
"We are starting
meetings with the owners of the land across
which the pipeline will pass
in Bulgaria, as well as with NGOs to familiarize them with the measures taken to
conserve the
environment and with the time
schedule of construction works in
Bulgaria," Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director of Nabucco
Gas
Pipeline International GmbH,
told mediapool.
Participating in the
Nabucco consortium with equal shares
are
Bulgarian Energy Holding (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), MOL
(Hungary), OMV (Austria), RWE
(Germany) and Transgaz (Romania).
"Compared with the other
Southern Corridor projects, Nabucco is at the most advanced stage," Mitschek
said.
Earlier this week,
the RWE representative, Stephan Judich
was
quoted by German media as saying that the rival project,
South Stream, was under
question as it lacked supply, financing
and
even route concepts.
Nabucco offers 60 per
cent of the pipeline capacity to other
suppliers thus complying with
the European Commission's
requirement to
make the pipeline accessible to third parties, Mitschek
said.
The members of the
consortium are expected to complete their
negotiations on the amounts of
gas supplies in the first half
of 2011. The final
decision on investing in the project will be
made after conclusion of the
commercial contracts. The
construction
should start in 2012, and the first amount of gas from Turkey to Europe should
be transited in 2015.
Agreements in support
of the project are to be signed by the
consortium and the governments
of the countries which the pipeline will cross. The negotiations with Bulgaria
have been
finalized. The agreements are
expected to be signed before
Christmas.
Bulgarian companies
willing to take part in the project's
construction in Bulgarian territory will not enjoy any
privileges. In Mitschek's
words, open tenders will be held to
choose contractors and suppliers of materials on a
competitive
basis.