Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 30
By Ali Mustafayev – Trend:
Possible support of the Asian Development Bank to the TAPI project can take the form of funding for equity participation by government-linked shareholders, loans to the project company, and credit enhancement of loans made by commercial banks to the project company, Chin Choon Fong, senior advisor at the Central and West Asia Department of the bank, overseeing the project.
“ADB will consider providing financial support for the TAPI Project at the appropriate time, when requested and subject to satisfactory due diligence and internal ADB approvals. Specific amounts will be determined at that time,” said Chin Choon Fong.
ADB also assists countries in Central Asia through loans, grants and technical assistance in the areas of infrastructure, environment, regional cooperation and integration, finance, health, agriculture and natural resources education, and public sector management, he said.
“We also provide direct assistance to private enterprises in these countries through credit enhancement, equity investments and loans,” noted Chin Choon Fong.
ADB has been instrumental for TAPI’s progress to date, serving as the TAPI secretariat since 2003 and, more recently, acted as transaction advisor. Despite Asian Development Bank’s assistance to the project, TAPI faces challenges in attraction alternative funding sources.
Yet, Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank has agreed to provide a $500 million loan to part-finance the project in December 2016.
The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan to Fazilka settlement on the border with India. The pipeline’s annual capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas.
Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI started in 2015 and is scheduled to be finished in late 2018.