Also, the agreement will create conditions for gas transportation along the pipeline as envisaged by the inter-government agreement of August 18, 2004, the press release reads.
The pipeline will be 214 km long, it goes via areas that are hard to access and its construction will take up to 1.5 years, said Naftogaz's head Yuri Boiko.
In a week the results of the tender will be announced, he added. The first investment stage will require $50 million, while the cost of the whole project is estimated at $300 million.
Also today, Gazprom signed a contract with the International Consortium managing and developing Ukraine's gas transportation system to transport additional gas volumes attracted by the consortium, the statement read.
The ship-or-pay contract was signed to meet the quickly growing gas demand in Europe due to Ukraine's increased transit capacities.
The contract will allow increasing gas transit via Ukraine to West European countries by 5 billion cu m in 2005 and to 19 billion cu m from 2010, according to the statement.
As part of the pre-investment work, the consortium has prepared a feasibility study of the project and has determined the variant of the pipeline's route. Also, it has coordinating the scheme of financing, which envisages use of own funds and loans under corporate guarantees of Naftogaz and Gazprom on a parity basis.
On Wednesday the companies also signed an agreement on interaction during the investment phase of the consortium's activities.
The document was signed by the companies' heads, Alexei Miller and Yuri Boiko.
The signing ceremony took place in the Ukrainian President's residence in the Mariinsky palace. It was attended by Vladimir Putin and Leonid Kuchma.
