ECONOMY
MEETINGS WITH STAKEHOLDERS OF B.T.C. PROJECT BEING HELD IN TURKEY, AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA
Concerned sides of BTC crude oil pipeline project were invited to meetings of multilateral-stakeholders which are planned to be held in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia from the last week of August to mid-September.
The first of meetings held on behalf of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Organization (IFC) which are foreseen to provide finance to the project is being held in eastern Erzurum province on Tuesday.
Talks were held with circles which were affected by the project in the meeting which IFC Energy Department Chief Resat Kalzani also attended.
Mentioned meetings aim to strengthen consultation activities with people which have been carried out by sponsors of the project so far. Those meetings provide people with facilities for expressing their views about the project and asking questions to finance organizations.
The second of those meetings is expected to be held in southern Adana province on August 28.
Results of the meetings will be summarized and they will be made public before EBRD and IFC executive boards take a decision on financing of the project.
1.760 km length BTC pipeline will start from the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan via Georgia and end in Ceyhan terminal in Turkey.
Environmental and Social Effect Assessment reports prepared for pipeline project were made public for 120 days till October 14, 2003.
IFC ENERGY DEPARTMENT CHIEF KALDANY SAYS MOST OF PEOPLE SUPPORT BTC PROJECT
International Finance Corporation (IFC) Energy Department Chief Rashad Kaldany said on Tuesday that most of people supported the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project.
Kaldany told the A.A correspondent that meeting on exchange of information with people in the region which was held at Polat Renaissance Hotel was very good and stated that they were very pleased to see that most of people supported the project.
Stating that they received especially questions regarding compensation of areas from citizens who attended the meeting, Kaldany said that they listened to people who were affected by the project.
Kaldany said that they also received questions about position of the project against quake and stated that problems would be conveyed to BOTAS and other officials.
He said that they would also hold a meeting in Adana after Erzurum and noted that they had opportunity to get information about legal, economic, social and environmental problems of BTC project during those kinds of meetings.
Stressing that the project provided a broad employment field, Kaldany said that 5,000 people would have temporary job and 400 people would have permanent job at the administrative level of the project.
Noting that Turkey would obtain 2.5 billion U.S. dollars of income with the project the following 20 years, Kanaden said that the government and the people in the region would have great benefits from the project.
Kaldany noted that 10,000 people would work under the project and added that 5,000 people would work in Turkey and 400 people would have permanent job at the administrative level of the project.
Kaldany said that a decision on 200-300 million U.S. dollars of financial support which would be provided by IFC would be taken in the meeting of executive board in October. He added that they hoped that the financial support would be approved.
Recalling that a big technology transfer would be provided with the BTC project, Kaldany said that a high level of construction technology would be used in the project.
