Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH has submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the 733-km stretch Sivas-Silopi to Turkey's Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, according to a media statement of the project company.

Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, defined the submission of the EIA report as "an important step forward in the project approval and implementation process."

The EIA report has been prepared in line with the requirements of the Ministry as set out in a decision from January 2011.

The report was drafted after intensive field studies along the entire route of the gas pipeline by highly qualified technical and environmental experts, as well as consultations with public institutions and organizations aimed at gathering all the necessary information.

The format of the EIA report for the pipeline section from Sivas to the Iraqi border complies with a decision of Turkey's Ministry of Environment and Urbanization from March 21, 2012.

The document will be subject to a public discussion attended by the governors of Sivas, Malatya, Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Mardin and Sirnak through which the pipeline goes.

The Nabucco project company also plans to fast-track the completion of the EIA report on the pipeline section between Ankara and the Georgian border.

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH says it expects a positive result about the stretch between Sivas and Silopi in summer.

Vienna-based Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC) was set up on 24 June 2004 to develop, construct and operate the Nabucco pipeline.

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.

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.