Czech EU President visits Caspian gas states

ASTANA. February 18. KAZINFORM Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek last week toured energy-rich Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan as part of his role as president of the EU council where he discussed cooperation, particularly in the field of energy. The Caspian states, which now mostly sell their gas to Russia, are involved in planning for a gas pipeline to Europe bypassing Russian supplies. Azerbaijan would supply much of the gas for the proposed Nabucco pipeline.

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan would also act as gas suppliers, in moves that have upset Moscow, which currently supplies much of Europe?s gas. On February 12, the Czech premier was in Astana where he held talks with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov and President Nursultan Nazarbayev. On February 13, Topolanek visited Turkmenistan where he met with Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov. The same day he flew to Azerbaijan where Topolanek met Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizadeh and President Ilham Aliyev. In Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev spoke of the need for signing new cooperation agreements with EU member-states. Topolanek said that the EU is interested in expanding cooperation with Kazakhstan, stressing that the bloc is interested in ?diversifying its routes and sources of gas, including deliveries from Central Asia and Russia. In the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is has become obvious that the EU is vulnerable and dependant on these deliveries. Solutions are needed. In this regard the EU is interested in diversification of both routes and sources of gas deliveries, so we will encourage development of projects and deliveries from Norway and from Iraq, from Central Asia and, of course, from Russia. The EU should build up relations with individual states, so that though joint efforts this issue could be solved by means of mutual deliveries.? Topolanek also discussed Caspian gas supplies for Europe with officials in Turkmenistan on February 13. Those were working consultations and the officials did not sign anything. Turkmenistan sells about 50 billion cubic metres of gas a year to Russia natural gas monopoly Gazprom and plans to sell another 40 billion cubic metres a year to China after launching a new pipeline. It has said before it could also supply gas for other pipelines, Kazinform quotes New Europe, the European Weekly.