Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline is officially launched: Montenegro is step closer to gasification

Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which will deliver natural gas from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to Europe, was put into operation yesterday, and the pipeline was officially launched by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić and State Secretary Nikola Vujović also attended the ceremony organised in the Turkish city of Eskişehir.

The TANAP gas pipeline, worth EUR 7.2 billion  and 1.850 kilometers long, is part of the South Gas Corridor and connects the Caspian Basin with Southeast Europe. It is a project that will transport gas from the Azerbaijani site Shah Deniz 2 on the Caspian Sea through Turkey to Europe.

"With this project, gas from Azerbaijan will be shipped to Europe for the first time. TANAP is important not only for the preservation of energy security, but also for improving the living standards of the countries through which it passes, " Turkish President Erdoğan said, the agencies reported.

The start of work of TANAP gas pipeline for Montenegro means a step closer to the gasification of the state and the possibility of approaching a significant gas market, bearing in mind the fact that it is planned that a gas pipeline will also pass through Montenegro.

Namely, the future part of the TANAP Pipeline - Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP), which would transport gas from Turkey via Greece and Albania to Italy, with its branch - the Ionian-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (IAP) in the length of 511 km will pass through Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will enable the gasification of this region and an open possibility for the placement of its own gas.

In the previous period, the Ministry of Economy intensified the communication with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy of the Republic of Albania in order to jointly approach the implementation of the IAP. In this regard, a joint application was prepared for the preparation of the IAP Main Project for Montenegro and Albania, for which a grant was granted within the XV call of the WBIF for the creation of a preliminary project in the amount of EUR 2.5 million.

Also, after the Ministerial meeting held in Baku earlier this year, the Letter of Intent on the establishment of the project company of the Ionian - Adriatic Gas Pipeline was signed, which will be the next step in the entire process.

European Commission officials welcomed the opening of the TANAP pipeline and assessed that TANAP is strategically important for the EU and is a key link in improving energy security.