BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.23
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
All the activities for the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) project have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development told Trend.
“Considering IAP project we find it one of most important projects for development of gas market in Southern Europe but due to COVID-19 situation all activities are postponed. Furthermore, we find SOCAR support extremely important in this phase of development of IAP pipeline and we are sure that Ionian Adriatic Pipeline will continue to be an important part of our cooperation,” said the ministry.
Moreover, the ministry said the two countries can expand cooperation in the field of renewable energy, hydrogen, energy efficiency and etc.
Ionian Adriatic Pipeline can be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to transport gas to many countries in South-East Europe.
The pipeline with total length of 516 kilometers will stretch from Albania through Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to split in Croatia.
The capacity of the pipeline will amount to five billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The European Commission recognizes the importance of the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline for the regional gas market, in particular Croatia, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As a signal of its relevance for the region, the Commission has awarded IAP the status of Project of Mutual Interest (PMI), category of infrastructure projects that includes those that benefit one or more Contracting Parties(Western Balkan countries, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia) and one or more Member States but do not have a Project of common interest (PCl) status in the European Union, in line with the Regulation (EU) 347/2013.
Given its PMI status, Commission’s funding under specific programmes, such as the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), could be explored for the support of the construction of IAP in the Western Balkan countries.
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