This week Elshad Nasirov, Vice President of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), has admitted possibility of sale of part of SOCAR’s share or participants of TAP project to Greece. What is going to happen if Greece buys part of the share in TAP?
The Centre of the Oil Studies of Azerbaijan said that “nothing is going to change if this happens.” Joining new company the TAP project will simply show another dynamics in the project, where one company sells its share, while another one buys it.
“Therefore, the main criteria here is not handing over of property of the government, as SOCAR Top Manager said, but sale to the Greek company on the commercial basis,” said the same source.
Nobody is going to present their share to the Greek company, it will be sold and then the company will be able to fund the project, a source from the Centre explained.
The trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP) is part of the Southern Gas Corridor. The goal of the project is to transport gas from the Caspian Sea to the south of Italy through Greece and Albania. Total length of the pipeline will be 870 km. The construction is expected to begin in 2016.
TAP partners include BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Statoil (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).
