2016-05-17
Georgia, as a transit country, reiterates its commitments to the diversification of the Energy supply to Europe and express our support to existing and future energy projects connected to the Southern Gas Corridor - Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili noted in his address at the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline Construction Inauguration Ceremony.
The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline construction was initiated today in Greek city Thessaloniki.
Within the frames of the stage 2 of the Shah Deniz Project in Caspian Sea, the Shah Deniz Consortium adopted a decision regarding construction of South Gas Corridor that envisages transportation of gas to Italy through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania. The overall length of the pipeline is 3460 km and the cost of the project is 45 billion USD.
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline is part of the above mentioned route that covers Greece, Albania and South Italy through Adriatic. The overall capacity of the pipeline is 10-20 cubic meters.
Within the auspices of South Gas Corridor, Georgia is a strategic partner. Construction works aimed at expansion of the capacity f South Caucasian Pipeline have already been launched. 2 billion USD will be invested in the project. 400 million USD will be utilized to purchase goods and services in Georgia. As a result, the capacity of the pipeline will increase from 6 to 16 cubic meters. The length of the South Caucasus Pipeline is 690 km. 2000 people will be employed at various stages of the construction works, whereas 130 new working places will be created after the completion of the project. Starting from 2019, thanks to the project, Georgia will receive additional volumes of gas at preferential rates. Starting from 2020, Georgia will receive around 1 billion cubic meters of gas.
"Along its route, TAP can facilitate connections to a number of existing and proposed pipelines, ensuring that the Southern Gas Corridor opens up to many different energy markets. This will enable the delivery of Caspian gas to destinations throughout South Eastern, Central and Western Europe.
At the same time it will be a good precondition for expanding Southern Gas Corridor even further and attach natural gas resources of Turkmenistan and other suppliers in the region in future", - Prime Minister noted.
Prime Minister also underlined the transit role of Georgia and indicated Georgia is one of the EU's major transit partners.
"We are proud to be a reliable part of the transit corridor. Thanks to geographical location Georgia is at the heart of intertwined interests of gas suppliers and consumers and therefore an integral part of the Southern Corridor.
Over the past years the first initial steps for the success of Southern Corridor were made when Georgia and Azerbaijan together with Turkey have successfully built strategic partnerships and developed mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of energy. This is further confirmed by the fact that thanks to this project 30 00 new working places will be created in the participant countries," - Prime Minister noted.
According to the Prime Minister, Georgia fully supports further expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor and is ready to participate in the working group meetings dedicated to develop Trans-Caspian pipeline.
The construction of Trans-Adriatic Pipeline was assessed as a major step towards the energy security by leaders of other participating countries as well. They expressed hope that project will foster attraction of investment, economic development and stability of the region.
Prime Minister's Press Office