Kiev is set to invest EUR 790 million in Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, pending on whether the project includes the construction of a branch to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Georgia’s port Kulevi, from which gas could be carried to Ukraine by sea.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said the country was ready to participate in the EUR 7.9 billion Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, designed to pump gas from Caspian regions to E.U., bypassing Russia. Moscow has criticized the project because the Caspian Sea status has not been defined and regulated yet.
“We are ready to invest funds amounting to 10% of the project’s total value if the pipeline is linked with LNG terminal in Georgia’s Kulevi. Ukraine plans to accept the gas at a special terminal to be constructed at the Yuzhny Commercial Sea Port,” the source said.
Construction of a branch from the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline to Kulevi would help to boost the terminal’s transshipments to 20 billion CUM of gas from the current 10 billion CUM.
Ukraine has no gas terminals in ports so far. Last week, Kiev completed a feasibility study to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Ukrainian shore of the Black Sea worth EUR 846 million. The project is to be financed by a consortium of investors.