Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 14 / Trend A.Badalova/
A new partner may be involved in Nabucco gas pipeline project, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said at a meeting with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov, Ankara agency reported on Tuesday.
With regard to possible start of Nabucco pipeline on the border with Bulgaria, Yildiz said preparation of a feasibility study of the Nabucco project has already started and new partners may join it.
Yildiz stressed that such a large project as Nabucco faces difficulties. "However, it is important, that these difficulties will not hamper the implementation of the project," Mr Yildiz said.
According to Djankov, Nabucco project is an important project for Bulgaria. He expressed confidence in its future implementation.
Nabucco gas pipeline is one of the Southern Gas Corridor projects, which is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to the European countries.
The pipeline will be laid from the Georgian-Turkish and Iraqi-Turkish borders to the Austrian Baumgarten. It will run through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria over a distance of 3,900 kilometres.
The construction of Nabucco pipeline with maximum capacity of 31 billion cubic meters is planned to start in 2013 and its first supplies are scheduled for 2017. Gas produced during the second stage of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development is to be the main source for the Nabucco project.