Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Southern Gas Corridor CJSC and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement on the allocation of a $500 million loan for the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry said in a message Oct. 20.
The document was signed by Director General of Southern Gas Corridor CJSC Afgan Isayev and EBRD Director for Energy and Natural Resources in Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia Aida Sitdikova.
A guarantee agreement on the loan was signed by Azerbaijani Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov and Sitdikova.
The EBRD Board of Directors approved the loan for TANAP on Oct. 18, 2017. The loan is issued for a period of 18 years.
During the signing ceremony Sharifov said that the support for the Southern Gas Corridor by such leading financial institutions as the EBRD, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and others testifies to trust and confidence in this global energy project.
Sharifov stressed that the Southern Gas Corridor plays a special role not only for the regional security of Azerbaijan, but also for Europe and the region.
In his turn, Isayev said that $7.8 billion or 66 percent out of $11.8 billion necessary for the project have already been drawn.
He added that since early 2017, $1.9 billion has already been invested in the project.
Isayev added that the work on the Shah Deniz Stage 2, the gas from which will be used for the project, has been completed by 96 percent, TANAP has been constructed by 82 percent, while Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) - by 53 percent.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018 and after completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline's construction the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
The length of TANAP is 1,850 kilometers with an initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters of gas. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas is meant to be delivered to Turkey, with the remaining volume to be supplied to Europe.
TAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
The pipeline will be connected to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.
TAP’s shareholders are BP (20 percent), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).