Azerbaijan, Baku, March 15 / Trend A.Badalova /
In 2010, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH expects signing of the transport arrangements needed to make a final investment decision on the project, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2010.
"In the open season the transport capacity booking will start and transportation contracts will be concluded," Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH Spokesperson Christian Dolezal wrote Trend in an e-mail.
The capacity of the Nabucco pipeline will be auctioned in the third half of 2010. Half of the pipeline's capacity will be distributed among the project's shareholders, and the other half will be offered to third parties on the open market through long-term contracts.
In February, the German company Bayerngas announced about plans to book capacity in the Nabucco pipeline project to bring fuel supplies from the Caspian region to Europe. The company did not announce what capacity it plans to book.
Dolezal said the IGA treaty that provides the political and legal basis, and the Project Support Agreements, which must be signed between the responsible national authorities (ministries) in the transit countries and Nabucco Gas Pipeline Int. GmbH, are the two agreements which are important to have before a final investment decision.
The financial close with the banks can also be concluded in the course of 2011.
Nabucco gas pipeline project is worth €7.9 billion. Participants of the project are Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE companies. Each of participants has equal share to the amount of 16.67 percent. Construction of gas pipeline is planned to be launched in 2011, the first supplies - in 2014. Maximal capacity of the pipeline will hit 31 billion cubic meters per year. Nabucco Gas Pipeline International shareholders will invest 30 percent of total cost of the project, the rest 70 percent will be paid owing to loans.
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