Italian engineering company D'Appolonia S.p.A. (D'Appolonia) has been appointed as new Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Advisor for the Nabucco Pipeline Project, effective from 1 June 2011.

The main purpose of D´Appolonia's appointment is to ensure the successful completion of an integrated project ESIA, fulfilling the requirements of the International Finance Institutions (IFIs) and complying with national and European legislation, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH has said in a statement.

As such, D'Appolonia will be responsible for ensuring consistency between the national or "in-country" Environmental Impact Assessments and the project-wide Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, as well as for the harmonisation of both Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH 's and the IFIs' (EIB, EBRD and IFC) standards and requirements, as confirmed in the Project Support Agreements (PSAs) in June.

More specifically, D'Appolonia will produce all the necessary documentation for the project-wide ESIA. As an advisor, they will ensure consistency between Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH and the National Nabucco Companies ( subsidiaries of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH in each of the transit countries) and implement the necessary management systems such as the project stakeholder engagement documents, the land acquisition and compensation action plans, and the project environmental and social management plans both at project level and in-country.

Nabucco, an EU-backed gas pipeline project, is to carry Caspian gas supplies to Europe by circumventing Russia.

The gas conduit is to cross Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria.

Nabucco is scheduled to become operational in 2017, carrying 31 bcm of natural gas per year.