Eurasia Press & News
Romania, Georgia and Azerbaijan Tuesday signed a deal in Bucharest for gas transport through the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania-Interconnection project, known as Agri, which might be completed sooner than Nabucco, Romania’s Economy Minister Adriean Videanu said.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Videanu, the Azeri minister of industry and energy, Natig Aliyev, and Georgia’s Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri.
The natural gas produced by Azerbaijan will be transported to Romania via Georgia and will be delivered afterward to other European Union countries.
The project includes the construction of liquefied-natural-gas terminals in Georgia and Romania.
According to the memorandum signed Tuesday, a company headquartered in Bucharest will be set up in the next few months to draw up the feasibility study, Videanu said.
Videanu said Agri might be developed sooner than the Nabucco gas-pipeline project, adding that it is the fastest and the most efficient project within the European southern corridor.
According to Videanu, part of the natural gas transported via Agri will be used by Romania.
The project’s capacity is expected to be 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, of which Romania is expected to receive 2 billion cubic meters annually.
Romania’s Economy Ministry state secretary, Tudor Serban, said the project could cost between EUR2 billion and EUR4 billion.
Discussions between the three states as regards the Agri project started a year ago.
“It is an important project for all the states in the Black Sea region,” Aliyev said.
