Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 22 /Trend, A.Badalova/
European Commission's proposals on the energy infrastructure will assist the Nabucco gas pipeline project in realization, the project's official representative said.
Nabucco gas pipeline International spokesperson Christian Dolezal stated that the consortium welcomes the proposals of the European Commission which designates the Southern Gas Corridor, among other energy projects, as a Project of Common Interest (PCI).
"This is one of the final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, which will see Nabucco transformed into reality. As it will enable permits to be granted quicker and in a more harmonised way and put in place a priority system for the allocation of subsidies, with the ultimate aim of establishing an integrated internal energy market for the EU," Dolezal told Trend on Saturday.
This week, the European Commission announced the proposals to use €9.1 billion to help modernization of Europe's energy infrastructure. The funds will be available under the proposed EU budget for 2014-2020 in the form of newly-minted project bonds, grants and loan guarantees.
The grants will be awarded to a select group of "common interest" projects which will benefit from a fast-track permit granting procedure, EurActiv reported. Projects eligible for EU funding - such as the Southern Gas Corridor to bring gas from the Caspian basin to Europe - could then receive between 50-80% of their funding from the EU.
The South 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).
Dolezal said the Nabucco pipeline is the key to EU's aim to create integrated internal energy market, since it will ensure security of the supply to Europe and Turkey, population and businesses.
"It already has the necessary political and economic backing in the form of stability by international treaty and commitments from three major financing institutions," he said.
The Nabucco project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to EU countries. The project is worth 7.9 billion euro, with its construction planned to start in 2013 and the first supplies to be commissioned in 2017.
The project's participants include the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and the German RWE.