Macedonia reiterates interest in joining TAP

The Republic of Macedonia is very interested in connecting with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, CEO of Macedonian Energy Resources Skopje company Krste Miladinov told Trend.

"Regarding the connection to TAP, a request was sent to TAP AG Greece, but no final response has been received so far," he added.

Miladinov pointed out that the benefits for Macedonia from the realization of this project are enormous, because it will provide additional quantities of natural gas from other sources to Macedonia and further through Serbia to Central Europe.

"This will ensure the diversification and security of supply for the entire region," he added.

TAP 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), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent). (Trend.az)