The EU has rallied behind the long-discussed Nabucco pipeline to deliver Central Asian and Middle-Eastern gas to Europe as a flagship project that could help bolster Europe's energy security.
Following a two-day summit on the project in Budapest, the European Commission yesterday pledged ?250 million (Dh1.21 billion) in financial backing for the pipeline as part of a proposed ?3.5bn funding package for energy projects. The decision followed recent disruptions to Russian gas supplies that left millions of eastern Europeans without heating during two of this winter's coldest weeks.
In a related development, the European Investment Bank (EIB) on Tuesday offered to lend up to 25 per cent of Nabucco's projected ?8bn construction cost.
"We are willing to play an active role in the structuring of the commercial contracts," said Philippe Maystadt, the EIB president.
The announcement preceded a joint declaration yesterday by the summit's participants in support of the ambitious development aimed at reducing European dependence on Russian gas. Politicians and company executives at the conference pledged to press ahead with efforts to "create the necessary political, legal, economic and financial conditions" for Nabucco to proceed promptly.
The unprecedented financial and political support could break a deadlock in negotiations that has stalled the project for the past seven years.
"There is no question about it - the biggest change now is in the attitudes of all the parties involved. They are saying its now or never," said Zsolt Hernadi, the chairman and chief executive of the Hungarian oil and gas group MOL, a member of the six-company international consortium seeking to develop Nabucco.
The consortium's other members are the Austrian energy business OMV, the Bulgarian and Romanian state-owned gas companies Transgaz and Bulgargaz, the Turkish pipeline company Botas, and the German gas and electric utility RWE.
The 3,300km pipeline, first proposed in 2002, would initially bring gas from Azerbaijan to Austria via Turkey, giving Europe access to Central Asian gas by a route skirting Russia. Under the consortium's most recent development plan, construction is due to start in 2011, with first deliveries expected in 2014.
By 2020, Nabucco could transport 31 billion cubic metres of gas annually with the addition of further Caspian and Middle-Eastern supplies from countries potentially including Turkmenistan, Iraq, Iran and Egypt. Middle-Eastern gas may become crucial to the project, which has been hampered by doubts that it could attract sufficient support from Caspian region gas suppliers wary over their relationships with Moscow.
On Tuesday, Sameh Fahmy, the Egyptian petroleum minister, said Egypt was "fully committed" to Nabucco as a potential supplier.
Iran, a more controversial future source of gas for Europe, said it was keen to discuss a deal.
"If the West asks for sustainable energy, Iran is available to talk," Mehdi Safari, the country's deputy foreign minister, said in Athens on Tuesday.
Crucially, Ilham Aliyev, the Azeri president, pledged continued support for Nabucco in Budapest.
Guler Hilmi, the Turkish energy minister, told the conference he saw Nabucco as the region's most important energy project, suggesting he would champion the EU-backed pipeline over a Russian rival.
Georgia, another potential transit state for Nabucco, also pledged commitment to the pipeline development.
In addition to the recent gas crisis in Europe, last August's brief war between Russia and Georgia has heightened European sensitivities over energy security. About 20 per cent of Europe's gas supply was cut off due to a row between Russia and Ukraine, while the Russian invasion of Georgia disrupted oil supplies from Central Asia.
The proposed EU financing package, which requires additional backing from EU governments and the European Parliament, would address those concerns in part by funding several gas pipeline projects, of which Nabucco is the most prominent. Improvements to Europe's electricity supply, including wind power projects, are additional key components of the emerging EU energy plan.
@Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”