BRUSSELS, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - A summit of countries interested in the construction of a gas pipeline from Central Asia to Europe officially opened on Tuesday in Budapest.

The $10 billion Nabucco pipeline, backed by the European Union and the U.S., is expected to link energy-rich Central Asia to Europe through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, bypassing Russia and Ukraine. Construction has been tentatively scheduled to begin in 2010.

The summit comes shortly after the recent gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine that affected around 20 European countries. The crisis prompted the European Union to intensify talks on the construction of an alternative gas supply route to Europe.

Top EU representatives, Caspian Sea region gas producing countries, and gas transit states are due to attend the summit.

Bulgaria, one of the countries affected by the Russia-Ukraine dispute, has estimated losses caused by the disruption to gas supplies at 250 million euros (about $324 million) and demanded compensation from Gazprom.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev announced on Monday that he had agreed with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev to hold talks next week on supplies of 1 billion cubic metres of gas a year. The supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria could start in 2010.

"There is no doubt that the latest gas crisis has given a political impetus to this project," Stanishev said.