Nabucco construction delayed till 2012September 6, 2010 - 17:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Nabucco gas pipeline venture delayed the start of construction even as the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank said they may lend the project as much as 4 billion euros ($5.2 billion). “Construction will start 2012,” Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH Managing Director Reinhard Mitschek said at a briefing today in Brussels. “The operation of the pipeline will start 2015.” The Vienna-based venture had previously said that construction was set to begin in late 2011, with shipments starting at the end of 2014 or early 2015. The 7.9 billion-euro pipeline is designed to carry gas more than 3,300 kilometers (2,050 miles) from Turkey to Austria to reduce European dependence on Russia. The venture is counting on gas from the Caspian region and Iraq to fill the link. “We have to synchronize Nabucco first to the gas supply sources,” Mitschek said. Once the gas supply has been secured, the “open season” tender process for transporting gas will begin by the end of the year or in the first quarter of next year, he said. Financing will be completed in the second half of 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Related links: Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. |