AZERBAIJAN, TURKEY, GEORGIA TO SIGN BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN SAFETY PROTOCOL
"The protocol will show that we do not violate the rights of any peoples on this route, which are protected by international conventions. On the contrary, we are again declaring the protection of the rights of the local population," he said.
Mr. Aliyev stressed "the signing of this protocol is aimed at putting an end to campaigns by international non-profit organizations against the pipeline."
He also noted that now the document has been submitted to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
A number of international organizations have set up a campaign against the pipeline and have appealed to the governments of leading countries and management at international financial institutions not to finance the construction of the pipeline. These organizations claim that the pipeline violates the interests of a number of peoples along the route of the pipeline and represents an ecological threat.
The future pipeline will stretch 1,767 kilometers (443 km through Azerbaijan, 248 km through Georgia and 1,076 km through Turkey) and will have a capacity of 50 million tons of oil per annum and require 1.5 million tons of oil to fill it. The cost of the project is estimated at $2.95 billion. It is planned to complete construction work in the fourth quarter 2004 and to start exporting Azerbaijani oil from the port of Ceyhan in May 2005.
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