Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.24
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Montenegro has received a 2.5 million euro grant for the preparation of project documentation of the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), said the country’s economy minister Dragica Sekulic, according to the message posted on the website of Montenegrin government.
The grant will finance the preparation of the project documentation of the pipeline on the territories of Montenegro and Albania and was approved as a result of the joint work of both governments, Sekulic said during the meeting, attended by representatives of ministries and gas distribution operators from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Albania, said the message.
The Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) is a joint initiative of the EU, international financial institutions, bilateral donors and the governments of the Western Balkans.
IAP is a proposed natural gas pipeline in Southeastern Europe (SEE) that will stretch from Albania through Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Split in Croatia. It will be connected with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
IAP will provide deliveries of Azerbaijani gas to several countries of South-Eastern Europe. The capacity of the pipeline will amount to five billion cubic meters of gas per year.
TAP has already signed memorandums of understanding and cooperation with the developers of this project, in particular with companies of Plinacro (Croatia), BH-Gas (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Geoplin Plinovodi (Slovenia), as well as with the governments of Montenegro and Albania.
There has been created a TAP-IAP joint working group that gathers regularly to synchronize the timing both pipeline projects and coordinate the technical issues of interconnection.
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