14/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - A ministerial meeting of the states affected by the European Nabucco gas pipeline project will take place in Budapest on 26-27 January, according to an AFP wire of Monday 12 January. The Nabucco project to pipe gas from the Caspian Sea to Central Europe without going through Russia involves six countries, but, so far, as a result of problems in raising funding (the estimated cost of the project is €8 billion), has had difficulty in getting off the ground. Competition to Nabucco will come from, among others, the Russian-Italian South Stream project. Europe would have to have 30 billion cubic metres per annum of gas piped from countries like Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq to make the project viable. (E.H./transl.rt)