Today’s Zaman - Three leading international financial institutions are preparing to grant a potential EUR 4 billion loan to the Nabucco pipeline project – a project that aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies and that will make Turkey an indispensable energy route for its neighbors.

In order for the much-awaited project to begin, on Monday officials from the European Union, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – a World Bank Group affiliate – met in Brussels, where they signed a letter of authorization for the large loans. Under the agreement reached on Monday between the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH and its partners – including the Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) and the three financial institutions, the EIB, the EBRD and the IFC – they will provide loans of up to EUR 2 billion, EUR 1.2 billion and EUR 800 million, respectively, for the project. BOTAS General Director Fazil Senel said Turkey is one of the masterminds of the Nabucco pipeline and added, “We are supporting every step necessary for the project’s completion. Today’s signatures provide proof of the contributions these three important financial institutions will make. Seventy-five percent of the Nabucco pipeline will be on Turkish land – and it will make substantial contributions to the places it passes through. Our producers, industrialists and our people will benefit from the project.”