Baku, Azerbaijan, May 27
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
The World Bank (WB) is considering the possibility of financing the construction of the Azerbaijani section of the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), the WB Baku office told Trend May 27.
To this end, a delegation led by Ranjit Lamech, WB manager for energy and extractive global practice in Europe and Central Asia, and Salvador Rivera, WB senior specialist for energy, was in Baku May 19-25.
The WB Baku office said the delegation held negotiations with representatives of the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry and Southern Gas Corridor CJSC.
The WB is in negotiations simultaneously with Turkey's Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation and Southern Gas Corridor CJSC for financing TANAP.
Moreover, it is expected that additional $1.07 billion will be allocated by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for TANAP.
The loans will be long-term, and will possibly be provided under state guarantee.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey.
Turkey will get gas in 2018 and after completing the construction of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
The project's total cost is estimated at $9.8 billion. Currently, the shareholders of TANAP are: SOCAR - 58 percent, Botas - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent.