DUSHANBE: Russia wants to participate in the
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project,
members of the project said in a joint statement on Friday.
"The
parties welcome Russia’s interest in participating in implementation of
the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project," the
heads of Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan said in the
statement after signing an agreement in the Tajikistan capital of
Dushanbe on development of trade and economic relations.
The
project’s participants signed a final agreement to build the pipeline,
intended to carry gas to India from Central Asian states, last
December. Construction will start in 2012.
The 1,700 kilometer
pipeline with a flow capacity of 30 billion cubic meters per year and a
rough cost of $4 billion, stalled by the war in Afghanistan, is
supported by the Asian Bank for Development. Gas will be supplied from
Turkmenistan’s Dovletabad deposit which has reserves are estimated at
1.7-4.5 trillion cubic meters.
In October 2010 Russian Deputy
Prime Minister Igor Sechin said that country’s gas giant Gazprom might
participate in a consortium to build the pipeline. India suggested
Gazprom join the project as one of the suppliers along with Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Online
