Nabucco starts talks with EBRD, EIB, and IFC for 4bn-euro funding

The EBRD, the EIB, and the IFC, a member of the World Bank, have started the evaluation process of the Nabucco gas pipeline, a European project intended to diminish reliance on Russian gas imports; the stake is high here, i.e. the granting of a potential 4 billion-euro funding package, half the value of the project.

The three financial institutions are set to start an analysis of the Nabucco project in the coming period, and in the end decide if they give the money necessary to conduct this investment.
The stage is an important one, as Nabucco shareholders themselves admit, because it is the first step towards obtaining the funding needed for the project. Nabucco appears to be gaining ground over rival South Stream gas pipeline, built by Gazprom, after a period during which the Russians managed to attract into their project several of the countries that are part of Nabucco. Despite the seemingly fast development of the Russians' project, market experts have constantly said that South Stream is in fact a non-existing project, lacking a completed feasibility study, an inter-government agreement, and which could prove too expensive to carry through even for Gazprom.
As far as Nabucco's funding is concerned, representatives of the syndicate say the EIB could come up with 2 billion euros, the EBRD could contribute 1,2 billion euros, half of which could be syndicated from commercial banks, and the IFC could contribute 800 million euros, with only half coming from the financial institution.