Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said the Nabucco pipeline project that seeks to pump Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe is unlikely to succeed compared to Moscow’s rival South Stream project.

"The main problem for Nabucco is the lack of guaranteed volumes of supplied fuel and sources for filling this gas pipeline system," he said, Tehran Times reported referring to the Russian RIA Novosti news agency.

According to Putin, Russia will not supply any fuel for the pipeline, while Iran’s gas fields have yet to be explored, and Azerbaijan’s supplies are insufficient. Moreover, Azerbaijan has signed a gas supply contract with Russia.

Nonetheless, Putin did not rule out the possibility of implementing the project if hefty investments are channeled into it.

The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline, which will run from eastern Turkey to the Austrian capital Vienna, is expected to come online in 2014. Deliveries by the pipeline, which will bypass Russia, will help European countries to diversify their supplies of energy. Maximal capacity of the pipeline will be 31 billion cubic meters per year. Nabucco participants with equal shares are Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Bulgarian Bulgargaz, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas and German RWE.