TAP officials pledged full govt support

TIRANA, Feb. 21 – Government has pledged full support to the implementation of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Southern Gas Corridor, a 520km long proposed pipeline will transport gas via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to Italy’s southern Puglia region and further to Western Europe. This was confirmed last weekend during a meeting Albanian Economy Minister Nasip Naco had with Per Lindberg, TAP’s manager for Albania. Minister Naco said the TAP project would make Albania part of the international gas network, which is additional guarantee for the country’s geo-strategic importance to the region. The new economy minister of the ally Socialist Movement for Integration also expressed government’s commitment to undertake a transparent privatization process in which the presence of foreign investors would be an additional asset for its success.
Reconfirming progress and continued cooperation with Albanian authorities on TAP’s implementation, Lindberg said the interest of foreign companies to invest in strategic sectors such as energy was a sign of confidence for Albania’s economic performance and potentials.
2011 will be a decisive year for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Southern Gas Corridor, project officials have announced.
At the start of 2010, project initiators completed the registration of TAP’s permanent country offices in Greece, Albania and Italy. These offices support TAP in liaising with the authorities in the host countries, preparing and submitting all necessary applications as well as providing information about the project to the local public and media.
“In April 2011 we expect to hear which companies have been successful in procuring gas from the Shah Deniz II consortium. This will then lead directly to a decision on which transportation solution becomes the cornerstone in the Southern Gas Corridor for bringing Caspian gas to European markets,” said Kjetil Tungland, the managing director of TAP
Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with the Albanian government, seven key ministries validated the results of TAP’s route refinement process in Albania and endorsed the proposed new pipeline route. Routing optimisation for the pipeline continues in Greece and Italy.