Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.17
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expected to discuss the possibility of allocating 500 million euros loan for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project by late 2018, Trend learned from the bank.
“We expect that the EBRD Board of Directors will discuss the project before end of 2018. At present, the project is in the due-diligence and structuring stage. It is not our practice to comment on internal stages of project preparation or on their timing, but we can say that the project is progressing as planned,” said a EBRD source.
TAP project has passed concept review and is now pending structure review by EBRD.
The beneficiary of the loan is TAP AG consortium.
Aside from EBRD, the European Investment Bank (EIB) will also discuss the allocation of 1.5 billion euros loan for TAP in February 2018.
TAP worth 4.5 billion euros is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.
TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers).
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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