ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The governments of Bulgaria and Turkey aim to lead efforts in pushing development of the Nabucco gas pipeline for Europe, the Bulgarian prime minister said.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Ankara to discuss bilateral ties and the future of energy.
Borisov said both countries had agreed to join forces to push the Nabucco project forward, the official Sofia News Agency reports. He added that he spoke with the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to make sure the money was there to build the pipeline.
Europe aims to bring Central Asian and Middle Eastern gas through Turkey with its Nabucco pipeline.
Ankara hosted the signing of a milestone intergovernmental agreement by representatives of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey on the construction of the Nabucco natural gas pipeline in July. Despite political support for Nabucco, the project lacks firm commitments from potential gas supplier nations.
Werner Auli, the top executive at Austrian energy company OMV and chairman of the Nabucco steering committee, said the project might not be built if the demand is not prevalent.
