Azernews.Az

VIENNA – The appraisal process for a potential financing of construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline by international financial institutions has started, Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director of NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International GmbH said.

"Nabucco's progress has been very positive so far. This year saw the start of the Environmental & Social Impact Assessment with the first round of public hearings; a mandate letter was signed with the EIB, EBRD and IFC and starts the appraisal process for a potential financing of up to four billion euros; and we finalized the prequalification process for suppliers of long lead items," he said.

"The Final Investment Decision is expected to be taken in 2011 and we expect construction to start in 2012, first gas to flow in 2015, depending on the availability of sources. Nabucco will have a technical transport capacity of 31 bcm per year. We expect considerable quantities from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq," he added.

Construction will be implemented in two main phases. The first phase (2012) includes laying a new pipeline with a length of 2,000 kilometers, starting at the Turkish border and ending in Austria. The second phase (2014-2015) includes building the remainder of the pipeline on the borders between Turkey and Georgia, and Turkey and Iraq.

Nabucco participants are the Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE. Each has an equal 16.67-percent share.