Last Environmental Permit Granted for Hungarian Section of Nabucco

The Hungarian section of the Nabucco pipeline, which crosses 384 km of Hungarian territory, has been granted the last necessary Environmental Permit. Hungary is now the first Nabucco country to successfully finish the permitting process.

Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, commented: “The granting of this permit is a substantial step forward in Hungary and signifies the advanced stage of development of Nabucco West. Based upon the Intergovernmental agreement, the cooperation with the Hungarian authorities has been exemplary. We are committed to following best practices in line with national and international regulations.”

Gabor Bercsi, Managing Director of the Nabucco National Company in Hungary said: “The next steps in Hungary are now to finalise the Front End Engineering and Design for Nabucco West and to continue the process of obtaining the necessary permits for construction. We are looking forward to a continued cooperation with Hungarian authorities as the Project progresses further.”

The method of acquiring Environmental Permit in Hungary is a two-step process, which Nabucco began in the first quarter of 2010 with the submission of Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (PEIA) documentation to four Inspectorates for Environmental Protection, Nature conservation and Water affairs (IENWs). Following a positive decision by all four IENWs, in September 2010 the second part of the process was initiated with the submission of detailed EIA studies to the same authorities.

Environmental Permits received:

· The Middle Danube Valley IENW granted the Environmental Permit for the realization of the NABUCCO Gas Pipeline Project in its Resolution No.: KTVF: 16053-4/2011, on May 17, 2011.
· The North Trans-Danubian IENW granted the Environmental Permit for the realization of the NABUCCO Gas Pipeline Project in its Resolution No.: 186-63/2011, on June 23, 2011.
· The Lower Tisza Regional IENW granted the Environmental Permit for the realization of the NABUCCO Gas Pipeline Project considering the section between Tass and the state border in its Resolution No.: 51358-5-124/2011, on September 5, 2011.
· The Middle Trans-Danubian IENW granted the Environmental Permit for the realization of the NABUCCO Gas Pipeline Project considering the section crossing its area of authority in its Resolution No.: 53441/2012, on June 15, 2012.