The Contracting Parties to the Nabucco Intergovernmental Agreement acknowledged a political declaration confirming the validity of the NABUCCO Intergovernmental Agreement and Project Support Agreements to NABUCCO West, giving comfort to investors and producers at the Nabucco Political Committee in Sofia, Bulgaria yesterday.
The declaration, introduced by the Bulgarian Minister for Energy, also encouraged the shareholders of Nabucco to consider the early implementation of a gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Turkey.
The member states confirmed the validity of the 8th October declaration to the Project Support Agreements in the respective countries.
Hosted by the Bulgarian Energy Ministry, and attended by the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and important political decision makers from Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, and attended by representatives from Azerbaijan, of the European Commission, international financial institutions, alongside the Nabucco shareholders, the Political Committee reiterated its full and resounding support for the Nabucco project.
Reinhard Mitschek, CEO of the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH said: “The Political Committee in Vienna re-emphasized the political, legislative and regulatory support enjoyed by Nabucco. This follow up meeting in Bulgaria goes a step further, making concrete the support and commitment of the state parties. The ministerial declaration of support affirms that NABUCCO West enjoys unequalled legal and regulatory security. We welcome this message of support, and look forward to working with the state parties to ensure freedom of choice and energy security for the European consumer.”
Frank Siebert, CFO of the NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International GmbH said: “The declaration by the contracting parties to the NABUCCO Intergovernmental Agreement affirms the stability of the project, and reduce political risk. Reduction of political risk also reduces risk for investors and producers, and is an important step to making NABUCCO the optimal project for all parties.”
Connecting gas from the Caspian Region and the Middle East to over 500 million potential customers in Europe, Nabucco is the flagship project in the Southern Corridor.