Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 14
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Preparations for the fourth ministerial meeting as part of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council meeting to be held Feb. 15 in Baku have been completed, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry said in a message Feb. 14.
European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, Acting Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs of the US Department of State Sue Saarnio, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy Baroness Emma Nicholson will take part in the meeting, according to the message.
The participating countries will be represented at the meeting by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Dimitri Kumsishvili, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Berat Albayrak, representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Greece Loudovikos Kotsonopoulos and Michalis Verroiopoulos, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania Enis Aliko, Energy Minister of Bulgaria Temenuzhka Petkova, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Italy Ivan Scalfarotto, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of Montenegro Nikola Vujovic, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Croatia Ivo Milatic and Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nedo Kapetina.
Romania and Turkmenistan will be represented for the first time at the meeting. Romania will be represented by State Secretary within the Ministry of Energy Iulian-Robert Tudorache, while Turkmenistan will be represented by Yagshygeldi Kakayev, advisor to the Turkmen president.
Heads of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortiums - Saltuk Duzyol and Luca Schieppati, as well as companies with equity share in consortiums, including BP, Snam, Enagas, Axpo and Fluxys, will take part in the meeting.
In addition, representatives of such international financial institutions as the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the International Finance Corporation, KfW Development Bank, the World Bank and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency will participate in the meeting.
Four plenary sessions will be held during the fourth meeting, and it is expected that the meeting participants will sign a joint declaration, while the Albgaz and SOCAR Balkans companies will sign letters of intent. Another letter of intent will be signed by Plinacro, Albgaz, BH-Gas and Montenegro Bonus companies.
The first meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council was held on Feb. 12, 2015, the second meeting – on Feb. 29, 2016, and the third meeting – on Feb. 23, 2017.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.
At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for Southern Gas Corridor. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of TANAP and TAP.
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