Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's trip next week to central Asia will focus on seeking alternative natural gas supplies for Europe and the planned Nabucco pipeline in particular, the premier said Thursday.
"The European and the Hungarian energy policy objectives are identical in this respect - to secure supplies from diverse resources and on varied routes," Gyurcsany said at a press conference after holding a speech at a meeting of Hungarian ambassadors.
Gyurcsany will travel to Azerbaijan Monday and to Turkmenistan Tuesday.
The diversified resources and the varied routes could come first of all from central Asia, he said.
"The most important goal is to see clearly whether the agreement between Russia and Turkmenistan still permits other, independent agreements," the premier said.
The talks should also shed light on "whether sufficient amounts of gas would be available for the Nabucco pipeline so we could accelerate the construction of the pipeline," Gyurcsany said.
The Nabucco pipeline is planned to transport 30 billion cubic meters of gas a year from the Caspian Sea and Middle Eastern regions to Europe, bypassing Russia and thus reducing Europe's reliance on its gas-rich eastern neighbor.
"We have to see whether we can receive gas from new (geographical) areas or at least via independent pipelines," Gyurcsany said.
The pipeline, supported by the European Union, is planned to transport natural gas through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to Austria and other parts of Europe from Turkey and central Asia. The consortium that aims to construct the project comprises Turkish state-owned energy company Botas, Hungarian oil and gas company MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU), Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Romania's Transgaz (TGN.RO), Germany's RWE AG (RWEOY) and Austrian OMV AG (OMV.VI), each holding a 15% stake.