EBRD talks on financing TAP still ongoing

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is still considering a loan for co-financing the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, but the process has not yet been finalized, Ksenia Manyushis, a principal banker at the EBRD, told delegates at the Central and Eastern European Gas Conference in Zagreb, Interfax Global Energy reported.

“The first negotiations kicked off five years ago when TAP representatives approached the bank,” she said. “It only proves both how long such talks can last and how early one must start thinking about financing such an ambitious project.”

The TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union.

The TAP project envisages the transportation of gas from Stage 2 of the development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.

The pipeline will be connected 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.

The TAP shareholders are BP (20 percent), the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

The TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 km, Albania 215 km, Adriatic Sea 105 km, and Italy 8 km). Its highest point will be 1,800 meters in Albania’s mountains, while its lowest point will be 820 meters beneath the sea.
(Trend.az)