|
Locals are largest group expected at BTC pipeline meetings
EBRD, IFC to hear wide cross-section of views
Local people living along the route of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, local officials and local interest groups are expected to form the bulk of the audiences in upcoming public meetings in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to discuss proposed financing for the pipeline.
The meetings, which run from late August to mid-September, are being organised on behalf of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Both are considering whether to lend money to the BTC pipeline project which will run 1,760 km and transport oil from the Caspian Sea near the Azerbaijan coast, through Georgia to a terminal on the Turkish Mediterranean coast of Ceyhan.
The meetings are open to the general public who have been invited via press announcements and advertisements in the local media. Journalists are invited to attend as observers. Translation will be provided for all workshops.
The meeting facilities can accommodate up to 200 people each. These stakeholder gatherings will provide valuable comments from communities affected by the BTC pipeline and are intended to build on and complement the considerable public consultation already undertaken by the project sponsors. The meetings offer the public an opportunity to express views on the potential financing of BTC and its related Caspian oil field development, the Azeri, Chirag and deepwater Gunashli project. The EBRD is also considering financing the Shah Deniz and South Caucasus Pipeline projects and will answer questions on these projects as well.
The stakeholder meetings are an important part of the public disclosure period of 120 days, which began on June 16 with the publication of BTC’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment report and ends on 14 October 2003. This report is available from the offices of BTC, the EBRD and IFC and via the internet at http://www.caspiandevelopmentandexport.com/ASP/DD_BTC.asp. As previously announced, the schedule of meetings is as follows:
• Erzurum, Turkey: Tuesday, August 26; Adana, Turkey: Thursday, August 28
• Ganja, Azerbaijan: Monday, September 1; Baku, Azerbaijan: Thursday, September 4
• Borjomi, Georgia: Monday, September 8; Tbilisi, Georgia: Thursday, September 11
Although Turkey is not one of the EBRD’s countries of operations, the EBRD is liaising closely with IFC on BTC issues in Turkey and will be an observer of those stakeholder meetings.
More details on the programme, times and venues for the meetings will be provided shortly. The EBRD and IFC are organising the public meetings with the help of a specialist firm, CDR Associates. CDR is being assisted and advised by local facilitators. For further information visit CDR’s website (http://www.mediate.org) or write CDR at btc@mediate.org.
Press contact:
Kate Dunn, London - Tel: +44 20 7338 6930; E-mail: dunnk@ebrd.com
|
