Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Ukraine and Azerbaijan created a working group for Ukraine's participation in the construction project of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP).

The news was reported by Baku-based Trend news agency on November 18 with reference to RBC-Ukraine, citing Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavitskiy.

"Ukraine's participation in TANAP is being considered ... This is a pipeline running through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. We have offered our participation in the investment component and the participation of our companies in the production of pipes," Stavitskiy said.

He noted that a working group has already been established to develop a feasibility study for the project.

"We have established a working group that will develop a preliminary feasibility study of this project," the minister said.

The TANAP project, jointly developed by Azerbaijan's SOCAR, Turkish state pipeline company Botas, and energy company TPAO, will deliver Shah Deniz gas to the Turkish-Greek border from eastern Turkey.

The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year. TANAP will connect to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the Turkish-Greek border.

Earlier Ukrainian top officials and diplomats expressed their country's interest in taking part in the TANAP project.

In particular, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said earlier that his country is ready to participate in the construction of TANAP. Ukraine is ready to make a financial contribution and provide pipes and compressor stations for this pipeline, he said.

Ukraine's ambassador to Azerbaijan Alexander Mishchenko said earlier that his country plans to participate in TANAP. According to him, this project is interesting and important for Ukraine since energy security is "a zone of our interests."

Experts believe that Ukraine's main interest in joining TANAP is to diversify its gas supplies.

However, Alexander Jackson, the analyst for political risk at Menas Associates in London, which focuses on Caspian energy and political issues, believes that Ukraine has no realistic chance of joining TANAP.

According to Jackson, from a geographical point of view, Ukraine makes no sense as a transit country when the aim is to deliver gas to Central Europe, and neither Azerbaijan nor Turkey will agree to using Ukraine's infrastructure.