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Nicolescu (Deloitte): I don’t think BRUA project will carry out; BRUSA gas corridor including Slovakia will appear
BRUA gas pipe project to connect Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, will not be achieved in the present form, but another project will appear - BRUSA- to include Slovakia, said Razvan Nicolescu, senior expert at Deloitte and former minister of energy.
He was asked, at a press conference on energy topics, whether BRUA project would be carried out.
“It is a difficult question. Honestly, I think the first part of BRUA, Podisor-Recas pipe will be carried out by us. If it is not carried out the reasons are not access to land. But I think the first BRUA stage, on Romanian territory will be carried out,” Nicolescu said.
Moreover, he considers the project will not continue in the present form as Slovakia will be added to it.
“My personal opinion is that neither BRUA or BRU will be achieved. After stage I of the project another project called BRUSA will appear: Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Slovakia-Austria,” Nicolescu said.
He added that for Romania, it would be better that gas volumes to be extracted from the Black Sea remained in the country, to be processed with high VAT.
BRUA is a new European corridor project for gas transport, which will have a length of 1,318 km and will offer better connection among countries on its route, it will back energy market allowing new connections with major infrastructure projects, such as Trans- Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), other gas hubs in Central Europe and future offshore production installations in the Black Sea.
The project is meant to ensure a deeper integration of European gas markets and will increase supply security.
Transgaz received financing for this project from EU, which gave a grant of 179 million euros, as well as loans from EIB (50 millions) and EBRD (60 million euros).
The first stage of the project includes the construction of a natural gas pipe of 478 km between Podisor and Recas localities, as well as three compressor stations located at Podisor, Bibesti and Jupa in Romania. The overall price of the project in Romania is 478 million euros.