The European Investment Bank hopes to make a decision on financing TANAP and TAP projects soon, Vazil Hudak, EIB Vice-President told Trend. “TANAP and TAP are certainly important projects for Europe, as well as for Azerbaijan and for the Eurasian space. EIB is one of the potential financial partners in these projects. Our position is very much linked to the position of the EU towards not only Azerbaijan, but also Turkey and other countries which are a part of these projects. We are discussing and coordinating also with European Commission and member states and the decision will be done pretty soon,” he said.
Hudak noted that timing of decision making depends on not only the EIB, but also on the coordination with the European Commission and member states. “It is very difficult to say the exact timing, but we will try to do it as soon as possible. It is too early to talk about the exact amount of financing,” he added.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018 and after completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s construction the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020. The length of TANAP is 1,850 kilometers with an initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters of gas. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas is meant to be delivered to Turkey, with the remaining volume to be supplied to Europe.
TAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries. The pipeline will be connected to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south. TAP’s shareholders are BP (20 percent), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
