“The (agreements) represent a significant step in the advanced development stage of the Nabucco Pipeline. Together with the Intergovernmental Agreement, the Project Support Agreements are a necessary prerequisite for the successful financing of the project,” said Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of the project company, Nabucco Pipeline International GmbH.
The agreements are based on current legislation and they protect the Nabucco project from new laws, which could have a negative impact.
“The main elements of the PSAs are the affirmation of an advantageous regulatory transit regime under EU and Turkish energy law; the protection of the Nabucco Pipeline from potential discriminatory changes in the law; and support for legislative and administrative actions for the further implementation of the project. The PSAs also mark a commitment by each government to support the project,” the project company said in a news release.
The documents will be signed in Kayseri, Turkey, by the project company members and by the governments of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey.
The project company includes Austrian OMV, Hungarian MOL, Romanian Transgaz Medias (TGN.RO), Bulgarian Energy Holding, Turkish Botas and German RWE.
Each company owns a 16.67% stake in the project.
The Nabucco project’s purpose is to increase Europe’s energy security by diversifying its sources of natural gas, currently mostly imported from Russia. The pipeline should transport 31 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Central Asia through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. The project is officially evaluated at EUR7.9 billion.