Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.19
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The next meeting of Project Management Unit (PMU) for the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) will be held in October 2018, Croatian Ministry of Environment and Energy told Trend.
“Members of PMU are representatives of ministries and transport operators from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. Other members are representative of Energy Community and representative of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR,” said the ministry.
As for establishing IAP Company, the ministry said the process is ongoing, without providing any further information.
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). The capacity of the pipeline will amount to five billion cubic meters of gas per year.
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).
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering allocation of 500 million euros loan for TAP project. Aside from EBRD, the European Investment Bank (EIB) will also discuss the allocation of 1.5 billion euros loan for TAP in February.
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