Signatures for the TAP pipeline

The decision to proceed with the construction of the TAP pipeline was officially taken today by the shareholders of the project, following the announcement of the joint venture to exploit the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan.

The announcement was made by the companies SOCAR, Statoil, BP, Fluxys, Total, E.ON and Axpo and the pipeline will start from the Turkish border to end up in Italy via Greece and Albania.

"Our goal now is to ensure that the pipeline will be built on schedule and within budget», TAP CEO K. Tagland said today. Commenting on the announcement of the consortium he said the opening of the Southern gas corridor will improve security of supply in Europe and will strengthen the strategic importance of the countries along its route.

According to schedule, the construction work in Greece will begin in 2015 and in 2019 the gas will start flowing from Azerbaijan. The consortium has started the procedures for the compensation of landowners along the pipeline.

The investment for the Greek part of the pipeline (a total of 550 km from Evros to the Greek-Albanian border near Dipotamia) reaches 1.5 billion euros and is expected to create 2,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs.