Baku, Azerbaijan, April 8
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The direct loan of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) turned out to be unneeded by the Southern Gas Corridor CJSC of Azerbaijan as a result of optimization and reduction of project costs, spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR Ibrahim Ahmadov told Trend.
"As it is known, Southern Gas Corridor CJSC signed two agreements with the Asian Development Bank, one of which envisages a guarantee to attract $ 524.5 million, which were fully utilized by the company, and the other was a direct loan worth $ 500 million, which later turned out to be unneeded by Southern Gas Corridor CJSC as a result of optimization and reduction of project costs," he explained.
As for the loan in the amount of $500 million raised from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Ahmadov noted that these funds were also fully utilized.
Since the beginning of the year, Southern Gas Corridor CJSC has invested about $320 million to finance its share in the SGC projects (including financing costs), he added.
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.
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