14 December Azerbaijan does not expect problems in financing construction of the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline despite a $400 million jump in the estimated cost, the country\'s president Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday. The million-barrel-per-day pipeline from the Caspian to the Mediterranean had been forecast to cost $3.6 billion, but Azeri state oil firm SOCAR said last month construction delays had boosted the cost to $4 billion. Speaking in London, Aliyev said the cost overruns should not pose financing problems for the pipeline, which is due to start pumping crude oil in the first half of 2005. \"So far there are no problems dealing with international financial institutions. Therefore we don\'t consider this a major problem. All shareholders are committed to the project,\" he told a conference organised by his government and hosted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Britain\'s BP is leading the project and its partners include Norway\'s Statoil , Azeri state oil company SOCAR, U.S. Unocal , Italy\'s ENI and Japan\'s unlisted Impex. The project is heavily supported by Washington as an alternative to Russia\'s dominance in transiting Caspian crude oil to world markets and will allow shippers to bypass the crowded Turkish straits. The EBRD said separately on Tuesday it was lending $170 million to SOCAR for two Caspian gas projects that will supply energy for Georgia and Azerbaijan. Aliyev told the conference diversifying Azerbaijan\'s economy away from its dominant oil sector was the top priority for boosting growth and spreading wealth in the regions. The government would focus on developing banking, insurance, telecommunication, tourism and telecommunication sectors to woo investors, he said. Last month, the EBRD\'s 2004 transition report also projected Azerbaijan\'s economy to expand by 10 percent in 2004, down from an estimated 11.2 percent growth in 2003. (Reuters)