Baku, Azerbaijan, April 5
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Azerbaijani gas is crucial for Montenegro’s economic security, Dragica Sekulić, Montenegro’s Minister of Economy, told balkanist.net.
“Montenegro’s interest in SOCAR is focused around our activities in the field of gasification, and the implementation of Ionian-Adriatic Gas Projection (IAP). Those two investments, which are part of the Southern Gas Corridor, are crucial to Montenegro’s economic security,” she said, Trend reports.
Sekulić noted that Montenegro’s aim is to diversify as well as improve the security and reliability of the country’s energy supply.
Montenegro will receive Azerbaijani gas via the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) that is expected to be connector to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.
The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) were connected on the Turkish-Greek border.
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.
Total length of the pipeline is 511 kilometers.
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