Azernews.Az

The European Union believes it is in the interest of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to be able to develop the Transcaspian pipeline, head of the EU office in Baku, Roland Kobia, told journalists on Tuesday.

The European Commission is in talks with the two resource-rich Caspian Sea countries on the proposed pipeline, part of a planned series of links called the Southern Gas Corridor that is designed to reduce EU dependence on Russian gas imports.

"We had a last round of ministerial meetings in Ashgabat in early September with [EU Energy] Commissioner Gunther Oettinger. So we are continuing our discussions," Kobia said but stressed that realizing this complex initiative was a daunting task.

"But we very much believe that it is in the interest of Turkmenistan and of Azerbaijan to be able to develop this corridor and make their own independent decisions," Kobia said.

According to Kobia, the EU does not believe that the unresolved status of the Caspian Sea is an obstacle.

"First because there are no legal reasons for that," he said. If the project implementation is discussed, Kobia said, it should be mulled between Baku and Ashgabat, without involvement of the other Caspian coastal states.

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev told Reuters earlier that the country does not plan to invest in building a Transcaspian pipeline to pump gas from Turkmenistan to Europe and does not expect the link to be built soon although it supports the project.

"I don't think the Transcaspian pipeline will happen any time soon," Aliyev was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic of 5.4 million people, holds the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves, according to BP data, and is seeking to diversify supply routes to markets in Europe and Asia.

Talks between Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and the European Union over construction of the Caspian-crossing pipeline have stalled in recent months, despite several trips by Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger to Caspian states.

The EU has been aggressively pursuing the project, as it is eager to break the gas monopoly held by Russian firm Gazprom over several of its members' gas supplies.

Moscow has opposed the plans, saying all five Caspian Sea littoral states, including Russia, should approve such a project. Moscow thinks that the pipeline construction will damage the Caspian Sea environment.

The Transcaspian gas pipeline running around 300 kilometers is to be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor.

The negotiations between Turkmenistan and the EU and other countries on the construction of the Transcaspian pipeline have been ongoing since the late 1990s.

In September 2011 the EU issued a mandate for its negotiations with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the issue.