The newly-appointed CEO of state-owned Bulgartransgaz company, a subsidiary of Bulgargaz, Kiril Temelkov will also be in charge of the Bulgarian firm for the realization of the Nabucco gas transit pipeline.

Temelkov is going to serve temporarily as the head of Bulgaria's "National Nabucco Company" until a suitable person is found to fill the position within the upcoming weeks, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, the Nabucco consortium, announced Friday.

"The Nabucco project is met with great interest in Bulgaria. Its environmental impact assessment is going as planned. Meetings with the local and regional authorities have been held. The first round of consultations with NGOs was successful. The changes in Nabucco Bulgaria will not affect its progress," the company said in its statement.

In June, Kiril Temelkov replaced Ivan Drenovichki at the post of CEO of the Bulgartransgaz company. Ivan Drenovichki, executive director of Bulgartransgaz, was removed from the position one year and a half after taking office.

Temelkov, 37, has graduated from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia with a major in Economy and Management of Trade.

He has extensive experience in the energy sector and has worked for Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz, where he has been the Head of the Trade Department from 2000 to 2008.

The legal framework for the Nabucco gas pipeline was finalized in June as the five transit countries - Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey – have signed Project Support Agreements (PSAs) with the Nabucco Consortium.

The signing of the Project Support Agreements (PSAs) between NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International GmbH and the responsible ministries of the five transit countries took place in Kayseri, Turkey.

Nabucco is supposed to become "the new gas bridge from Asia to Europe." It will directly connect the world's richest gas regions - the Caspian region and the Middle East, to the European consumer markets. The pipeline will link the Eastern border of Turkey, to Baumgarten in Austria - one of the most important gas turntables in Central Europe - via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. The Nabucco gas pipeline is supposed to reduce EU's energy dependence on Russia by bringing in natural gas from the Caspian region, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

In spite of the new progress, in May 2011, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH pushed back the start of construction of its EUR 7.9 B pipeline to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe to 2013; thus, Nabucco is now expected to start operations in 2017 instead of 2015, as previously expected.

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC) was set up on 24 June 2004 to develop, construct and operate the Nabucco pipeline. Headquartered in Vienna, it is an unbundled midstream-company under EU law. NIC is owned by the Nabucco shareholders and is responsible for the development, construction, operation and capacity trading and allocation for the Nabucco pipeline.

NIC will be the only company in direct contact with the shippers and will offer a one-stop-shop solution, operating as an independent economic entity in the market, and acting independently from its parent companies. The pipeline system will be constructed by the National Nabucco Companies (NNCs), which are subsidiaries of NIC in each of the transit countries.

The direct investments in the Bulgarian economy from the construction of Nabucco will be about EUR 400 M and a few hundred jobs will be created directly. Another about 1000 jobs will be created indirectly by the project.

The Nabucco shareholders are: Bulgarian Energy Holding (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), MOL (Hungary), OMV (Austria), RWE (Germany) and Transgaz (Romania), Each shareholder holds an equal share of 16.67% of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH. Nabucco is estimated to cost EUR 8 B, and Bulgaria, as a partner with 1/6 of the shares, will be expected to provide 1/6 of the total sum, or about EUR 1.3 B, rather than finance just the section on its territory. Bulgaria plans to finance its share in Nabucco with a EUR 1.2 B loan from the European Investment Bank.

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, the Vienna-based project company, has been involved in talks with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, asking for an EUR 4 B loan. These negotiations are expected to be completed in 2011.