Claims: the head of Gazprom's foreign department has hit out at what he claims is the EU's "special treatment" for the Nabucco project
Gazprom exec hits out at Nabucco
The European Union is discriminating against Russian-backed gas pipelines in favour of Nabucco, the head of Gazprom's foreign department, Stanislav Tsygankov, claimed today.
"When you look at the regulatory treatment of Russian-linked projects compared to European ones, one is reminded of the famous book by George Orwell that says all animals are equal but some are more equal than others," Reuters quoted Tsygankov saying at a news conference.
"Nabucco is getting the green light everywhere ... while our gas transport projects, South and North Stream, are constantly facing regulatory barriers."
Spoekesmen for the European Commission and Nabucco were not immediately available for comment when contacted by UpstreamOnline.
The 3300 kilometre Nabucco pipeline project, designed to reduce the dependence of the 27-member European Union on Russian gas, could carry gas from the Caspian region, Middle East and possibly Russia to Europe after its expected opening in 2014.
Shareholders of Nabucco are Austria's OMV, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Germany's RWE, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz and Turkey's Botas.
Russia wants to build its own routes to bypass ex-Soviet transit country Ukraine after rows in recent years over price. Its South Stream project is scheduled to start by the end of 2015.
Europe, which gets a quarter of its gas from Russia, needs to build up reserves as Moscow's price debates with Ukraine have hampered supply, most recently in January, when millions in eastern Europe were left without gas for a fortnight.