Azerbaijan, Baku, July 11 /Trend E.Ismayilov/
In late August - early September, the World Bank will name the winner of the tender for the preparation of a report on the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) as part of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project aimed at ensuring the supply of gas from Turkmenistan to Europe, managing director, head of the business development department of Azerbaijani ASPI Consulting Engineers, Inc. Ibrahim Mammadzade told Trend.
He noted that the tender for the preparation of the ESIA is being announced on the basis of an appeal of the European Commission to the World Bank.
The tender was announced in May this year. It is attended by six consortia, led by well-known companies. Each consortium consists of average of three or four companies. ASPI as a bidder is included in one of the consortia.
The scope of work, complexity and cost of preparing the ESIA can be judged by the time it will be given for its preparation about 30 months, Mammadzade said.
Previously the document was prepared on the basis of which the European Union and the European Investment Bank has proposed a new organisation called the Caspian Development Corporation, which will manage the project. This organisation will be responsible for the most difficult parts of the project in Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Today, companies participating in the tender for the preparation of the ESIA, not only at the preliminary construction stage, but also in the frame of the work to be carried out during construction, Mammadzade said.
The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline running to around 300 kilometres will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijani, where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor. Negotiations between Turkmenistan and the EU and other countries on the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline have been on-going since the late 90s.
In September, 2011 the EU Council gave a mandate for negotiations between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to build the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. Russia expressed a negative attitude toward this project.