Azernews.Az

By Trend

Any financing by the European Investment Bank (EIB) remains conditional upon the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) being built and operated in line with the EIB Environmental and Social Standards, Trend learned from the Bank.

The EIB said that the project is strongly supported by the EU and has received the status of PCI (Project of Common Interest).

"The financing of the project is expected to be provided by TAP’s shareholders and a large consortium of banking institutions. The Board of Directors of the EIB approved the provision of 1.5 billion euros for the TAP project on February 6, 2018. Any EIB financing remains conditional upon TAP being built and operated in line with the EIB Environmental and Social Standards, as stipulated in the Environmental and Social Data Sheet published on the Bank’s website," said the Bank.

The signature of the EIB loan has not taken place yet, said the EIB.

In March 2018, the other component of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline TANAP, that runs from the Turkish border with Georgia until the Turkish borders with Greece, got approval for $1.1 billion EIB long-term financing, said the Bank.

TAP worth 4.5 billion euros is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.