Azernews.Az

European Union representatives have paid numerous visits to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in recent years to strike deals with their leaders. Analysts say that one of the challenges in the way of building a pipeline under the Caspian Sea to export hydrocarbons is the position of experts of some littoral states who are opposed to implementing the trans-Caspian project until the legal status of the sea - an issue disputed for many years running - is determined. Building the conduit would cause irreparable damage to the environment, they claim. Nonetheless, the governments of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan do not see the unresolved status issue as a hurdle for the project.
Building the 3,300-km long conduit through the Caspian Sea under the $5.8 billion project could take until 2011-2012. The pipe's annual throughput capacity is estimated at 31 billion cubic meters. The project will help European countries to diversify supplies of energy, while the U.S. sees the trans-Caspian route as a way to undercut Russian dominance on gas supplies to world markets.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov has said implementation of the trans-Caspian project will not be hampered by the fact that the coastal nations have not yet passed a common convention on the legal status of the sea.
"The issue of laying a pipe along the sea-bed is not a component of the Caspian status determination. It is an element of cooperation among separate countries. Therefore, the unresolved status and the lack of such a convention will not impede construction of the pipeline," the deputy minister told a news conference Friday.
At the same time, Khalafov pointed to outstanding differences among coastal nations. "There are two positions. One of them calls for agreeing the construction of a sub-sea pipe with all Caspian littoral states, while the other one - only with the countries whose territories will be crossed by the pipeline."
Khalafov said Baku adhered to the latter stance, as it deemed it more appropriate in terms of existing experience in international law. "As an example we can cite the pipelines crossing the Black and Baltic Seas."
The Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev put forth the same stance at last week's summit of Caspian states. He concurred that it is enough to agree the routes of future trans-Caspian pipelines with the countries that will host them. Nazarbayev said this was pivotal to ensure the economic interests of the countries involved.
The importance of Nazarbayev's statement is highlighted by the fact that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have already signed a bilateral agreement on the Caspian legal status. Therefore, the two countries are at liberty to give a green light to the project on building a gas pipeline passing through their respective sections of the sea. The agreement could expedite exports of Kazakh natural gas by-passing Russia, which maintains a tight grip on global gas supplies.