Mitschek sees Nabucco deals by year's end

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 6 (UPI) -- Members of the planned Nabucco gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Europe may sign the necessary agreements on gas shares by year's end, officials said.

Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of the Nabucco pipeline consortium, said member states are prepared to sign on to supply agreements for the pipeline, the Turkmen bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

His comments come as Prague, Czech Republic, prepares for a Friday meeting on a southern gas corridor envisioned by the European Union in 2008, which includes Nabucco and several other natural gas routes.

The Prague delegation is expected to consider gas supplies through a so-called Trans-Caspian link, which could provide the backbone for Nabucco.

Mitschek praised an April deal between Germany's RWE, a shareholder in Nabucco, and Turkmenistan as a key step toward implementation of the $10.7 billion project.

Nabucco would rely on gas supplies from Caspian and Middle Eastern suppliers to feed European markets. It is a key part of the European plans to ease dependency on Russian gas.

Engineering work on the 2,051-mile pipeline began in April. Nabucco is expected to go online by 2013.