TAP to receive largest EBDR loan?

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) may be receiving a €1.5 billion loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); the largest loan on record.

EBRD’s Managing Director of Energy, Riccardo Puliti, stated: "We are considering up to €500 million of our own money for TAP plus we will try to arrange with other banks up to €1 billion in a syndicated loan. Together with financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB), project sponsors' equity and export credit agencies, I think the project will be fully financed.”

EIB has also stated that it was may grant €2 billion to TAP. Massimo D'Eufemia, EIB Official Representative, said: "We also want to assure that there will be EIB's long-term funds and resources for successful completion of these projects, and we're also considering to finance the other components of the Southern Gas Corridor.”

As part of the Southern Gas Corridor, TAP – a 870 km natural gas pipeline – will connect to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkey-Greece border and deliver gas to the south of Italy. This pipeline is intended to reduce the EU’s dependency on natural gas that transported from Russia.

A groundbreaking ceremony will take place on 17 May in Greece to celebrate the construction of the TAP pipeline project.

Edited from various sources by Stephanie Roker

Sources: Trend News Agency, Daily Mail, Reuters

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/project-news/13052016/tap-to-receive-largest-ebdr-loan/