Romania, Bulgaria to join forces in Nabucco gas pipe project

Officials in the Romanian and Bulgarian Economy Ministries decided to take a common position as regards the construction of Nabucco gas pipeline, which is a priority project for both countries. Representatives of both ministries met on September 2-3 in the capital city Bucharest to analyze the evolution of the Nabucco project, Romania's Economy Ministry said in a statement on Monday. Moreover, the officials discussed about the necessity to build some hydropower plants on the Danube, to join the two country's electricity markets and to interconnect the national gas and energy transport systems. Nabucco, linking Turkey to Central Europe via Romania, aims to supply natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Central Europe via Turkey and Romania, bypassing Russia. The project is estimated at EUR7.9 billion. The gas pipeline, of 3,300 kilometers length, is to be constructed by Nabucco Gas Pipeline International consortium made up of Transgaz Medias, Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, Bulgarian Energy Holding (Bulgaria), Turkey's Botas and Germany's RWE. Mediafax