Gas pipeline meant to break Russia's grip on EU looking for contractors

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Military Space News

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Gas pipeline meant to break Russia's grip on EU looking for contractors
by Daniel J. Graeber
Baar, Switzerland (UPI) May 13, 2013

Russia frustrated by the "sanctions express" from the European Union
Vienna (UPI) May 13, 2013 - The European Union is pursuing a one-sided policy against Russia by sanctioning entities tied to the energy sector, Russia's deputy foreign minister said.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the "sanctions express" is "steaming downhill" after EU foreign ministers Monday added 13 individuals and two Crimean energy companies to its list of entities sanctioned because of the ongoing row over Ukraine.

"Our EU colleagues are pursuing a one-sided, one-dimension, unvarying policy that is not worthy of the European Union," he said Tuesday in Vienna, where he's attending multilateral talks over Iran's nuclear program.

A former Soviet republic, Ukraine has tilted toward the EU following a November uprising. In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty to annex the Crimean peninsula, a part of Ukraine since 1954.

Crimean officials have said Russian energy company Gazprom aims to tap into the more than 50 billion cubic feet of gas available in the peninsula.

Gazprom has threatened to cut off the supply of gas through Ukraine by June if it doesn't settle its outstanding gas debt of $3.5 billion. A similar row in 2009 left EU consumers in the cold for weeks as much of their gas runs through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine.

The consortium managing the planned Trans-Adriatic pipeline said it was seeking contractors for the onshore section planned through Greece and Albania.

TAP construction through Greece and Albania is scheduled for 2016. Companies wishing to land a construction contract need to submit their bids to the consortium no later than May 26.

"This is one of the largest contracts that TAP plans to award," TAP Procurement Director Knut Steinar Kvindesland said in a statement Monday. "The selection of potential suppliers will be rigorous."

The 540-mile pipeline is meant to diversify a European energy sector that depends heavily on Russian natural gas. It will bring as much as 700 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year from the Shah Deniz natural gas field off the coast of Azerbaijan as early as 2019.

The highest point for the Albanian section would be 5,900 feet above sea level. The consortium says it has a "zero-harm" policy governing the environmental aspects of the project's construction.

The project consortium is led by BP, the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic, and Norwegian energy company Statoil.

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