TRANSGAZ: Discussions on the funding of Nabucco are as yet, premature

The talks about the funding of Nabucco are as yet premature, considers Ioan Rusu, general manager of "Transgaz", company which is involved in the construction of the pipeline, together with OMV Austria, MOL Hungary, Botas Turkey, Bulgargaz Bulgaria and RWE Germany. Mr. Rusu said: "The Nabucco summit in Budapest was focused mostly on strengthening political support at the top level for the launch of this project. It is too early to discuss the funding of the project, because first of all there is a need for inter-governmental agreements and the tenders for the reservation of the transport capacities. Banks need these guarantees in order to grant funding".

Mr. Rusu also said that the Budapest summit did not bring about any big changes for the shareholders of the company created for the construction of the Nabucco pipeline: "Transgaz, like the other companies, has a clearly defined schedule for this year. We have to finalize certain legal aspects needed for the organization of the tender for the reservation of the transport capacity and to obtain the support agreements at a local level. Already the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) has extended its decision which was already made last year, to exempt Nabucco from the European regulations concerning gas transport rates". According to Mr. Rusu, European officials will meet in April in order to make some decisions at the highest level on providing political support to Nabucco. The pipeline was designed to transport gas from the Caspian Sea area, through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, across 3.300 km. The investment has been valued at some eight billion euros.

The summit on the Nabucco project was held on January 26-27 2009, in Budapest. At the end of the summit, officials from the Ministry of the Economy announced that the partner countries have adopted a Joint Statement, expressing strong commitment to expanding cooperation between the producing countries, countries that the pipeline will cross, and gas consuming countries, international institutions and energy companies, so as to create the political, legal, economic and financial conditions for the completion of Nabucco.

Participants in the summit have expressed their willingness to stand behind measures which would ensure, among other things, a transparent delivery system, with low costs across the entire route of the pipeline, encourage direct foreign investments in supply and transit countries. These steps are also aimed at strengthening the cooperation between EU member countries and Turkey, Georgia, the countries in the Caspian Sea region and in the Middle East, in order to create an efficient energetic partnership. The representatives of the European Commission have restated their willingness to analyze the granting of loans for funding the project.