Azernews.Az

Ukraine plans to invest 790 million euros in the project on building a trans-Caspian gas pipeline from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor, Kommersant Ukraine quoted a Ukrainian energy ministry source as saying.

According to the source, Ukraine has already sent an official proposal on its participation in the project to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

The source said that the country is ready to invest up to 10 percent of the project`s total cost if the pipeline is linked to the Kulevi liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Georgia.

Ukraine will receive gas at the terminal, which is planned to be built in Port Yuzhniy, the source said. He said this requires the construction of a branch from the Trans-Caspian Pipeline, which would enable to double transshipment volume through the Kulevi terminal to 20 billion cubic meters per year.

There is no direct agreement on the implementation of the trans-Caspian pipeline project yet. However, in September 2011 the European Union authorized the European Commission to start talks to reach an agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on building the conduit. Russia, one of the Caspian Sea littoral states, followed up by saying that implementation of the project is impossible until the legal status of the basin is resolved among all the coastal nations, which also include Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Iran. However, the European Commission went ahead and started negotiations with the two resource-rich countries.