Change of TAP route not ruled out, says Greek Minister

In the local communities of Greece are not pleased, the possibility of change of the route of the trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) is not ruled out, Greek  media wrote on Wednesday quoting Greek Minister of Industrial Reconstruction, Envrionment and Energy Panayotis Lafazanis.

He said the Greek government support the TAP construction, because the country will benefit from it.

“Energy Ministry and TAP have coordinated creation of a joint committee, which will consider the proposals on Greece’s compensation from the project implementation. The pipeline route could be changed, if the local communities strongly disagree,” Lafazanis said.

Minister also said that privatiation of Greek gas operator DESFA has not been completed. “The procedure on sale of 66% share of DESFA to SOCAR has moved forward. In the future the government’s position to this issue will depend on the decision of the European Commission on Competition,” he said.

Earlier Minister said that the Greek government supports TAP construction, but profit that Greece could derive from natural gas transit via the territory of the country is insufficient.

However, in February 2015 Lafazanis said that the Greek government supports construction of TAP and IGG gas pipeline (interconnector Greece-Bulgaria) and will contribute to their prompt implementation.—0—