Azernews.Az

Ukraine has offered to the European Union to build a gas pipeline through its territory instead of laying a conduit under the Caspian Sea within the NABUCCO project.
The alternative "White Stream" route envisions transportation of Turkmenistan's gas through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine's Crimea under the Black Sea to Europe. The proposal was made by Prime Minister Yuliya Timoshenko in a meeting with the EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Brussels on Tuesday.
Timoshenko said the EU's backing of the NABUCCO project was erroneous as the new project was more suitable for gas supplies. "If Europe thoroughly studies the 'White Stream' project, it might change its mind."
Ferrero-Waldner did not state a specific position on the proposal, saying it was too early to discuss the project at this point.
The NABUCCO project envisions building a 3,300 km-long pipeline under the Caspian Sea to ship gas to world markets by 2011. The pipeline will eventually go through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria to take Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe. The pipe's annual throughput capacity is estimated at up to 31 billion cubic meters. The project will bring Azerbaijan considerable transit revenues.
A Ukrainian analyst has argued that no prospects will discern for the "White Stream" project in the next 10 to 20 years.
"It is possible to build the pipeline but it cannot be filled as of now," said vice-president of the Center for Corporate Relations Research Rostislav Ishenko.
"It takes a long time for proposals, and economic ones in particular, to be accepted, and not by certain countries, but by an organization like the EU. Moreover, a decision of the national government is needed, and it should do some work on the expert level, after which the union's experts will work on the proposal," Ishenko said.
He added that the Ukrainian premier's proposal was not aimed at receiving an immediate reaction from the 27-member union and "it was most likely a PR move".