From: Daria Solovieva (dsolovieva@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Feb 04 2004 - 12:50:09 EST
A package of four agreements was signed in Baku on 3 February in the presence
of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and senior energy officials from the United
States, Turkey, and Georgia, Azerbaijani and Russian media reported. The
agreements finalize loans to be provided to finance construction of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan export pipeline for Caspian Sea oil from Azerbaijan and,
possibly, also from Kazakhstan. The total cost of the project is estimated at $3.6
billion. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the
International Finance Corporation will each provide $250 million (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 5 and 12 November 2003). A syndicate of 15 commercial banks --
including ABN Amro, Citigroup, Mizuho, and Societe Generale -- will provide $1.2
billion; and the consortium formed to build the pipeline, $900 million. To date, more
than half of the 1,760-kilometer pipeline has been laid, and the project should be
completed early next year, according to "The Wall Street Journal in Europe" on 3
February. Azerbaijan State Oil Company President Natik Aliyev (no relation to
President Aliyev) said following the signing ceremony on 3 February that
Azerbaijan will not reduce from the present level of 2.5 million tons per year the
amount of crude it exports via the Baku-Tikhoretsk-Novorossiisk pipeline,
ITAR-TASS reported. LF
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