European Union starts negotiations with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on Trans-Caspian gas pipeline

The European Union started the negotiations on legal basis of Trans-Caspian gas pipeline with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev said that the first meeting in this framework was held in Brussels: “The first talks were held in the second decade of October in Brussels. The representatives of the European Union, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan participated in the negotiations”.

On September 7, the EU approved the mandate given to the European Commission, to negotiate an agreement for the legal framework for a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline system with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The Trans-Caspian pipeline is supposed to connect the Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan shores of the Caspian Sea to export gas via Azerbaijan to Europe. The expected annual capacity of the Tengiz (Kazakhstan) Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan) Baku (Azerbaijan) Tbilisi (Georgia) Erzurum (Turkey) route amounts to 20-30 billion cubic meters of gas. The cost of the project is estimated at 7.9 billion euros.

On September 13, Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that the realization of Trans-Caspian project was impossible till the determination of the legal status of the Caspian Sea by five Caspian littoral states.


/APA/