Georgia's State Minister Kakha Bendukidze told the 24 Hours daily newspaper that the Georgian delegation at the Davos Economic Forum lobbied for the construction of a new gas pipeline that would connect Europe to the Caspian hydrocarbon reserves, bypassing Russia.

According to Bendukidze, the pipeline would go through Ukraine and is estimated cost would be around 7 billion US dollars. This cost was prohibitive while the gas prices in the Ukraine remained very low, but currently the pricing seems "very comfortable" for investors Bendukidze says.

He added that the energy ministers from several countries will meet in Georgia this spring to discuss the first steps of implementing this project.