BAKU DENIES ARMENIA WILL HOST NABUCCO
UPI Energy
September 24, 2008 Wednesday 4:11 PM EST
Azerbaijani officials Wednesday said there are no plans to alter the
route of the proposed Nabucco pipeline through Armenian territory.
Turkish media had reported Ankara spoke with officials in Armenia
about the possibility of altering the Nabucco route to Europe.
Construction on the 2,000-mile pipeline from Caspian gas fields to
Europe is slated for 2009. Azeri officials, however, denied the plans
included Armenia, Trend Capital News reported.
"The route of Nabucco has already been determined. It will run through
territory of Azerbaijan and Georgia, onwards to Turkey, Greece up to
Italy," said Ali Hasanov with the Public Policy Department in Baku.
Hasanov said Baku "has repeatedly stated" it will not deal with Armenia
until it releases territory Azerbaijan claims is under occupation.
Europe and the United States back development of the Nabucco pipeline
as a means of easing Europe’s dependency on Russian energy.