The European Commission proposed contributing €250 million to the realization of the Nabucco gas pipeline project, which would bring gas from Central Asia to Europe, reducing the region's energy dependence on Russia.

At an international Nabucco summit in Budapest on Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said the EU should contribute €2 billion to the project, including €200 million - €300 million of capital for advance financing.

The €250 million contribution was part of a proposed €5 billion of new EU investments in energy and internet broadband infrastructure in 2009-2010, intended to support the recovery plan for the region.

Other contributions the Commission proposed included €25 million for a gas interconnector between Hungary and Slovakia and €30m for a gas interconnector between Hungary and Romania.

The Commission proposed total gas interconnector contributions of HUF 1.025 billion.

The Commission said the contributions would put projects “back on track” during a period when access to investment is difficult and “plug the gaps in EU energy interconnections.”

EU Tax and Customs Commissioner László Kovács told MTI there was a big debate on the investment contributions at the Commission's meeting. Hungary submitted three proposals to connect its gas network with neighboring countries. Two of the proposals for projects connecting Hungary's network with ones in Romania and Slovakia were approved, but one, which would have supported the construction of a 200-kilometre gas line between Croatia and Hungary, was rejected. The pipeline, which could be operational as soon as 2011, would make possible deliveries of liquefied gas from Croatia's terminal on the island of Krk, Kovács said.