The government will vote Wednesday on a proposal to declare the Bulgarian stretch of the Nabucco gas pipeline a national priority.

If the decision is passed, the gas pipeline project will enjoy simplified administrative procedures for the issuance of a building permit, the land expropriation and the actual construction.

The decision is in line with the government's aim to achieve a diversification of gas supply sources and routes to boost the energy security of the country.

Nabucco is an EU-backed project designed to bypass Russia to bring Caspian gas to a hub in Austria via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

Preliminary analyses cited Iran and Turkmenistan as the sources of gas supplies for the conduit.

It was decided later on that the pipeline would cross Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria.

Nabucco is expected to reach a capacity of 31 bcm/year, which will cover 5% of Europe's gas needs.

In mid-March, the companies-partners of the Nabucco gas pipeline offered a twice shorter version of the project in a bid to sidestep the problems accompanying the original project.

Under the so-called Nabucco West, the pipeline only covers the section of the route from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to the Austrian Baumgarten.

The capacity of the smaller version of Nabucco is around 16 bcm/year.

The EU-backed gas pipeline was originally scheduled to go online in 2015, but the launch was eventually delayed by two years to 2017.

The gas pipeline project is being developed by Nabucco Gas Pipeline International, an Austrian registered company that was formed in 2004.

Nabucco's shareholders are Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz, the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), Turkey's Botas and Germany's RWE, with all partners holding an equal 16.67% share of the project.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!