SOCAR Clarifies Conditions of Accession of Greece to TAP Project

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is ready to give way to the Greek side regarding a part of its stake in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The Vice-President of SOCAR on Investments and Marketing Elshad Nasirov told the media.

According to him, SOCAR is open to such a proposal. "If Greece wants to buy a part, we are ready to provide it. But it is a basic requirement for the Greek side that it should "pay on time by all accounts," said Nasirov.

"If the Greek side finds some company that will be able to participate as a shareholder of TAP, SOCAR will be ready to give it a part of its interest, of course, by reselling it to make the pipeline more Greek than it is now. In this, our desires are the same. Another thing is that you need to find the company that is sufficiently solvent in order not to delay the construction of the pipeline and the project of the Southern Gas Corridor," said the Vice-President of SOCAR.

Nasirov said that the Azerbaijani side is in constant contact with Greece. "We contact the new Greek government, the ministry and companies. So if there is any possibility to contribute to the fact that Greece's economy develops more intensively through this project, we will use it," he said.

It should be noted that on 12 February, when the Minister of Industrial Reconstruction, Environment and Energy of Greece Panayiotis Lafazanis arrived in Baku to participate at the first meeting of the Advisory Board of the Southern Gas Corridor, some Greek media reported that Athens wants to have a share in the pipeline TAP, to increase the transit rates through the territory of Greece and to reduce the price of Azerbaijani gas to be purchased in Shah Deniz-2.

* TAP shareholders are: BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Statoil (20%), Fluxys (16%), Total (10%), E.ON (9%) and Axpo (5%). -12C--