Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Turkey's capital Ankara hosted a ceremony of signing agreements for supply of pipes for the construction of the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipeline project.

The agreements were signed by Turkey's 'Borusan Mannesmann', 'Noksel Celik Boru' and 'Erciyas Celik Boru' companies.

The abovementioned companies won the tender to supply pipes for the TANAP project earlier.

The signing ceremony was attended by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Energy and Natural Resources Minister of Taner Yildiz, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev and President of state energy company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev.

Addressing the signing ceremony Davutoglu said TANAP clearly testifies to the high level of Azerbaijan-Turkey relations.

He noted that all projects jointly implemented by Turkey and Azerbaijan are important not only for the two countries, but the whole region.

"Despite the economic crisis in many countries, Azerbaijan and Turkey were able to implement major economic projects," Davutoglu said.

He went on to add that the TANAP project will contribute to the establishment of peace in the region.

"No one could imagine the possibility of implementing such a large project as TANAP 10 years ago," he said. "Azerbaijan and Turkey will create an energy corridor, which will connect the South Caucasus with Europe."

TANAP, developed by SOCAR in collaboration with Turkish Botas and the energy company TPAO, will deliver Shah Deniz's 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 link up with Trans-Adriatic (TAP) pipeline on the Turkish-Greek border. About six billion cubic meters of gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest to Europe. The costs of the TANAP project are estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion.