OREANDA-NEWS. May 20, 2008. Ukraine will present a concept on the direct use of the Odesa-Brody oil pipeline during an Energy Summit in Kyiv, the director of the Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department, Serhiy Korsunsky, said.

He said that it was necessary to take a decision on the reverse use of this oil pipeline, because oil supplies ensuring the pipeline's work in a direct regime were not agreed. Currently, there is a real possibility of implementing this project of Caspian oil supplies towards Europe.

According to Korsunsky, Caspian countries, in particular, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, increased the output of oil that helps hold talks on its purchase and transportation. Industrial volumes of oil will possibly appear in 2009, however, agreements on experimental oil pumping have been reached with all of the partners.

Korsunsky said that the pipeline is unprofitable for Russia, as it pumps oil from Brody to Odesa. Moreover, he said that Russia had not met and is not meeting its commitments on pumping up to nine million tons of oil to Odesa. According to the diplomat, nevertheless, it was Russia that proposed the indirect use of the pipeline, because it needs no competitor in oil supplies to Europe.

"If the oil pipeline worked in the direct direction and supplied up to 14 million tons of oil to Europe, then part of European plants would switch to light Caspian oil. However, it is the loss of markets for Russia," Korsunsky said.