MIKHAY BAYER: NABUCCO GAS PIPELINE WILL NOT PASS VIA ARMENIA

APA
[ 06 Oct 2009 16:18 ]

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva – APA. "The significant development in
Nabucco project can be expected next year", Hungary’s special envoy
on Nabucco project Mikhay Mayer said during the round table on Nabucco
project organized by the Strategic Research Center under the President
of Azerbaijan, APA reports.

Bayer gave financial details of the project. He said the European
Union needed in diversification of energy sources because it can’t
meet needs of own consumers and imports 80% of annual consumption
from other countries. "The import expected to reach 93% in 2017. The
Nabucco project is a priority No.1 from this point of view".

Bayer said the project had no political, but commercial character
and therefore it would stimulate regional energy projects. It will
not face with the financial problems in the first phase. The European
Investment Bank, International Financial Corporation and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are showing interest to
the project. EBRD promised to allocate â~B¬1 billion for the project.

Bayer said the Nabucco concept was already formed and it wouldn’t be
changed. "The gas pipeline will pass via Turkey in any case. I don’t
think that it will pass via Armenia or Georgia because the concept
will not be changed".

Officials of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic
Academy, as well as foreign diplomats accredited in Azerbaijan attended
the round table.

Ambassador Bayer led the organizing issues of Nabucco international
conference in Budapest in January, 2009. He led the Hungarian
delegation at the intergovernmental conference for preparing of
international agreement in January-June, 2009.

Bayer was Hungarian ambassador to Yemen, China, North Korea and
Moldova. He took different posts in the Hungary’s foreign ministry
for long time.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress