13 April 2009
Turan news agency

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's two-day visit to Baku ended last Friday [10 April].At the end of the visit, Yushchenko pointed to the importance of signed bilateral documents, stressing that issues pertaining to cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, and energy were mostly discussed during the talks in Baku. He also said that the implementation of the EAOTC (Eurasian oil transport corridor) project was broadly discussed at the talks.

The problem of transporting Azerbaijani gas to EU countries via Ukraine (the White Stream project) was discussed separately. The president stressed that the foreign ministries of both countries would soon start consultations on shaping a common position on this issue.

Yushchenko also said that significant attention had been given in Baku to cooperation in transporting oil through the Odessa-Brody pipeline. The unification of the Viking (the Klaipeda-Illichivsk container train) and Poti-Baku-Aktau-Almaty transit railway projects, using the Ukraine-Georgia ferry (Poti/Batumi-Illichivsk and Poti/Batumi-Kerch, which is being created now) were discussed in first place.

It is noteworthy that it is planned to sign at the general meeting of the Sarmatia joint enterprise in Poland on 24 April a document on the technical and economic substantiation of the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline project. Bohdan Sokolovskyy, the Ukrainian president's envoy for international energy security problems, reported that initial estimates have proved that the aforementioned project is "commercially attractive and profitable" in three directions: northern - via Poland, western - via Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Austria, and eastern. "The branch via Slovakia is the most realistic and quickest. No major investments are effectively necessary in order to pump 5-7 m t of oil annually during the coming years, and 4-5 m t of oil will remain in Ukraine," Yushchenko's envoy said. He added that it was effectively the issue of the first stage of the Europe-Asia oil transportation corridor.

At the same time, Sokolovskyy said that the second stage of the project in the northern direction to Poland - Plotsk-Gdansk - will need investments, which will enable to pump up to 20 m t of oil at this stage. The third stage of the project will enable to raise oil transportation to 40 m t. The rise will be proportional in western, northern, and eastern - Belarusian - directions.