Kyiv, Zagreb, Budapest and EC to sign memo on Adriatic gas corridor
BRUSSELS. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Ukraine, Croatia and Hungary, with the participation of the European Commission, are to sign a memorandum on the establishment of an Adriatic gas corridor at an industrial conference in Kyiv November 4-5.
The final details of the document were agreed on Thursday, European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger said in Brussels on Friday.
"Three countries - two EU member states and our partners - Hungary, Croatia and Ukraine - are developing, together with the commission, their gas infrastructure to a high technical level," the commissioner said, explaining the essence of the memorandum.
"This pipeline system is designed to make interconnections and reverse shipments, and will work in our common interest for Ukraine's integration into our internal European market," he said.
He said that the document would be signed at the highest level soon.
"Now we are waiting until November to hold a meeting at the highest level, and to have the document signed by all the governments - Ukraine, Hungary and Croatia, with the participation of the European Commission," Oettinger said.
Ukraine's Fuel and Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky added that with the new corridor connecting the Adriatic Sea with Hungary and Ukraine, natural gas would go through the LNG-terminal of Krk Island in Croatia via Hungary's gas transportation system to the gas storage facilities in Ukraine.
"I believe it is a very important step not only for the diversification of [gas supply] routes to Ukraine, but also for strengthening the energy security of the whole of Europe," the Ukrainian minister said.
European Commissioner Oettinger said that the upcoming conference in Kyiv on November 5-6, to which he was invited, will be an important event.
"We know that there are also invitations to our partners from Hungary and Croatia, so we are confident that this meeting in your capital in the coming days will be the best opportunity to sign the memorandum," he said.
Stavytsky desrcibed the upcoming conference as "a mini Davos."
