Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 14 / Trend S.Suleymanov /
There are concerns that the discussion over the construction of the Nabucco pipeline may be delayed for 10 years, Ex-Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said.
"The main problem of the Nabucco project is the EU's low ability to formulate a common energy policy," Topolane said k.
He recalled that the Nabucco project is one of the potential routes of energy transportation from the Caspian region to Europe.
"I am afraid that we will be discussing this project for another 10 years. These are my concerns. But I hope that the big players in the European Union could come to an agreement and start this project because it is important for our energy independence and energy security," Topolanek said.
According to him, Kazakhstan has great potential to supply gas to the project.
The Nabucco project is worth 7.9 billion euro. Construction is planned to start in 2011, with the first supplies beginning in 2015. Its maximum capacity will hit 31 billion cubic meters per year.
Construction will be implemented in two main phases. The first phase (2011) includes laying a new pipeline with a length of 2,000 kilometers, starting at the Turkish border and ending in Austria's Baumgarten. The second phase (2014-2015) includes building the remainder of the pipeline on the borders between Turkey and Georgia, and Turkey and Iraq.
Construction of the first section with a length of 2,730 kilometers will begin in the southern part of Ankara (Turkey) and continue westwards toward the Bulgarian border through Central Anatolia and the Marmara Sea. Seventy-five percent of the route will pass via existing pipelines.
Nabucco participants are the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE. Each has an equal 16.67-percent share.
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