Brussels, 09/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - The South Corridor Summit in Prague ended on a sour note on 8 May, with three partner countries and key Central Asian suppliers - Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - refusing to sign the final statement. It did, however, bring a formal commitment from the EU and supplier and transit countries (Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia and Turkey) on the conditions necessary to the success of the Nabucco gas pipeline project. It also brought real progress on the issue of the transit through Turkey of gas for the Nabucco pipeline, with the possibility of an agreement with Ankara by the end of June (see EUROPE 9898). In an interview with the Guardian the day after the Prague summit, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that Turkey had given up on its demand to use 15% of the gas through the planned Nabucco pipeline for domestic consumption uses, such as re-sale, a demand that broke EU competition rules. Reacting to the announcement by the head of the Nabucco project Reinhard Mitschek that the 15% demand was no longer on the table, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, on 4 June, denied that this was the case. “We haven't given up on the demand to take 15% of the gas that will be carried by the Nabucco pipeline. It's still being discussed,” he said. “The negotiations are continuing and we will not make any comment until they are concluded,” said Piebalgs' spokesman Ferran Tarradellas. For the Czech Presidency, Prime Minister Jan Fischer was not confident that an agreement on the transit through Turkey of gas from the Caspian region could be reached before the end of June. “We all know how demanding and complex a problem this is. Now the original optimism which pointed to the end of June is at stake. If it is not done at the end of June, the world will not collapse, it is necessary to continue patiently,” he said in an interview with Reuters. (E.H./transl.rt)