Hungary to press for political declaration at Nabucco signing

BBJ_Online

Wednesday 17:36, July 8th, 2009

Hungary will press for the signers of an inter-government agreement on the Nabucco gas pipeline in Ankara on July 13 to put their names to a political declaration in order to speed up the ratification of the agreement, Hungary's Nabucco envoy Mihály Bayer said on Wednesday.

The inter-government agreement means that all of the participating states will ensure an appropriate regulatory framework allowing gas to be delivered from the starting point in Turkey to Baumgarten, in Austria, under the same conditions, Bayer said. The content of the agreement will not be made public until it is signed, he added.When asked if the agreement meets Turkey's demand for 15% of the pipeline's throughput, Bayer only said that the agreement is in line with the European Union gas directive and the European energy charter.The agreement is a milestone, but is still not “the point at which there is no return“, he said. This point will come when a decision on the investment itself is made, he added. The signing of the inter-government agreement will clear the way for project company Nabucco Gas Pipeline International to begin talks on supplying the pipeline as well as financing it, Bayer said. The decision on the investment is expected to be taken in 2010, depending on the progress of these talks, he added.The pipeline, to cost €7.9 billion at 2008 prices, could start being built in two to two and a half years, he said. The financing of the pipeline as well as the distribution of costs is the responsibility of the Nabucco consortium: the inter-government agreement does not deal, directly or indirectly, with the question of financing for the pipeline, nor whether participants could get state guarantees for the financing.The Nabucco gas pipeline is expected to bring gas from Central Asia to Europe, reducing the region's energy dependence on Russia. (MTI-ECONEWS)