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The ambassador: â€œHigh-ranking European officials will attend the signing of Nabucco projectâ€

04 July 2009 11:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov â€“ APA. The number of high-ranking government officials from the European countries will attend the signing of intergovernmental agreement on Nabucco project on July 13 in Ankara, Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic told APA. The ambassador said there would be presidents, prime ministers and ministers among the participants.

Turkish newspapers said on Saturday the agreement would be signed by Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Austria.

The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will transport the Caspian natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. It will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria. This pipeline is a diversion from the current methods of importing natural gas solely from Russia. The project is backed by several European Union states and the United States. OMV of Austria, MOL of Hungary, Bulgargaz of Bulgaria, Transgaz of Romania and BOTAÅž of Turkey joined Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH consortium. Total investment coast of the project was increased recently from 4.6 billion euro to 7.9 billion euro (12.3 billion USD).

The name Nabucco comes from the same famous opera of Giuseppe Verdi dedicated to Babylon king. The pipeline will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March in Austria with total length of 3,300 kilometers. It will be connected near Erzurum with the Tabriz-Erzurum pipeline, and with the South Caucasus Pipeline, connecting Nabucco Pipeline with the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline. Polish gas company PGNiG is studying the possibility of building a link to Poland with the Nabucco gas pipeline. First part of natural gas is planned to be pumped in 2013.