Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.14 / Trend, A.Badalova /
A Joint Declaration on Southern Gas Corridor signed by the European Commission and Azerbaijan provides a firm political basis for gas supply from Azerbaijan, the official statement of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International says.
Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH said that the Joint Declaration on strategic gas supplies to Europe is of particular importance as it seals the bond between the EU nations and a close neighbour and strategic partner.
"Building on the Intergovernmental agreement, which was signed by the governments of the Nabucco transit countries in July 2009, the Joint Declaration serves to pave the way to the full implementation of Nabucco, by providing a firm political basis for gas supply from Azerbaijan," Mitschek said.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso signed a Joint Declaration on Southern Gas Corridor on Thursday.
The Southern Corridor is a priority EU energy project diversifying energy supply routes and sources and increasing EU energy security. The Southern Corridor includes: the Nabucco gas pipeline, Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), White Stream, and ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline).
"Nabucco" is worth 7.9 billion euro, with its construction scheduled to start in 2012 and the first supplies to be commissioned in 2015. The project's participants include the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE, each having an equal 16.67 percent share. The pipeline's maximum capacity will hit 31 billion cubic meters per year.