Ankara confirms Nabucco deal to be signed next week

Ankara announced on Monday that it had reached a deal with several European countries on the terms of the proposed Nabucco pipeline, intended to supply Europe with gas, and that they would sign an intergovernmental agreement on the project in Ankara early next week. A Foreign Ministry statement said that since January Turkey has been negotiating gas transit fees and other issues with Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, with the participation of Germany as well as the European Commission as a facilitator. "Negotiations on the agreement were successfully finalized in the seventh round of talks last month," the statement said, without further elaborating.