The Project Support Agreements for the Nabucco pipeline are finalized and will be signed by the Nabucco companies and the responsible ministries of the five transit countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey), the Nabucco Consortium announced.

The official signing event will take place in Kayseri, Turkey, on June 8, 2011, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International said in a statement Wednesday, June 1.

"The Project Support Agreements represent a significant step in the advanced development stage of the Nabucco Pipeline. Together with the Intergovernmental Agreement, the Project Support Agreements are a necessary prerequisites for a successful financing of the project," Nabucco Managing Director Reinhard Mitschek.

The main elements of the PSA are the affirmation of an advantageous regulatory transit regime under EU and Turkish energy law, the protection of the Nabucco pipeline from potential discriminatory law changes, and support for legislative and administrative actions to further implementation of the project. The PSA also marks a commitment of the government to support the project.

Nabucco is supposed to become "the new gas bridge from Asia to Europe." It will directly connect the world's richest gas regions - the Caspian region and the Middle East, to the European consumer markets. The pipeline will link the Eastern border of Turkey, to Baumgarten in Austria - one of the most important gas turntables in Central Europe - via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

In spite of the new progress, in May 2011, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH pushed back the start of construction of its EUR 7.9 B pipeline to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe to 2013; thus, Nabucco is now expected to start operations in 2017 instead of 2015, as previously expected.

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC) was set up on 24 June 2004 to develop, construct and operate the Nabucco pipeline. Headquartered in Vienna, it is an unbundled midstream-company under EU law. NIC is owned by the Nabucco shareholders and is responsible for the development, construction, operation and capacity trading and allocation for the Nabucco pipeline.

NIC will be the only company in direct contact with the shippers and will offer a one-stop-shop solution, operating as an independent economic entity in the market, and acting independently from its parent companies. The pipeline system will be constructed by the National Nabucco Companies (NNCs), which are subsidiaries of NIC in each of the transit countries.

The Nabucco gas pipeline is supposed to reduce EU's energy dependence on Russia by bringing in natural gas from the Caspian region, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

The direct investments in the Bulgarian economy from the construction of Nabucco will be about EUR 400 M and a few hundred jobs. Another about 1000 jobs will be created indirectly by the project.

The Nabucco shareholders are: Bulgarian Energy Holding (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), MOL (Hungary), OMV (Austria), RWE (Germany) and Transgaz (Romania), Each shareholder holds an equal share of 16.67% of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH. Nabucco is estimated to cost EUR 8 B, and Bulgaria, as a partner with 1/6 of the shares, will be expected to provide 1/6 of the total sum, or about EUR 1.3 B, rather than finance just the section on its territory. Bulgaria plans to finance its share in Nabucco with a EUR 1.2 B loan from the European Investment Bank.

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, the Vienna-based project company, has been involved in talks with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, asking for an EUR 4 B loan. These negotiations are expected to be completed in 2011.

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