Gas pipeline discussed with Croatia

TIRANA, March 25 – Economy, Trade and Energy Minister Genc Ruli discussed Wednesday with his Croatian counterpart Damir Polancec on the possibility of a gas pipeline across the western Balkan area.
Polancec is on an official visit to Tirana where he is also to take part at the Crans Montana Forum’s.
Ruli said Albania paid special attention to cooperation with Croatia as well as other countries in the region, hoping that this cooperation would serve the growth of mutual trust, increase exchanges in all areas, accelerate the pace of development in each country and, above all, the peace and security in the region.
Albania and Croatia are active members of regional initiatives such as CEFTA (Central European Free Trade Agreements, SEECP (South East European Cooperation Process) and CEI (Central European Initiative).
Both countries also expect to become full NATO members next week.
The two ministers also talked about the Ionian-Adriatic gas pipeline Project (IAP), which represents one of the projects with enough interest to develop gas infrastructure in the Western Balkan region.
The IAP gas pipeline will be extended to the whole coast of Adriatic Sea from Croatia to Albania (in Fier), crossing Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. The project is proposed by a Croatian gas company with a capacity of up to 5 billion cubic meters per year.