Kazakh Official Rejects Nabucco Project
Nabucco is intended to connect Europe to Caspian energy resources.
June 25, 2009
ASTANA -- A senior official says Kazakhstan will not take part in the Nabucco project, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
Kazakh Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Aset Magauov said at the third session of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Astana that due insufficient natural-gas supplies, Kazakhstan wouldn't be able to participate in the Nabucco project.
Nabucco is a planned pipeline that will transport Central Asian gas via Turkey to Europe.
The project's goal is to give Europe access to Central Asian gas while bypassing Russia. It is backed by the European Union and the United States.
According to Magauov, Kazakhstan's current gas priorities are the Caspian Sea pipeline and a project with Chinese partners.