Albanian ratifies Trans Adriatic Pipeline Agreement

The Albanian Parliament ratified the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Albania, Italy and Greece on the construction and operation of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, TAP reported on Tuesday.

Signed in Athens on February 13, 2013, the tri-lateral IGA confirmed the three host countries’ support for TAP and their cooperation for the project’s timely implementation.

The ratification of the IGA follows the finalization of the Host Government Agreement (HGA), initialled in Tirana by TAP’s Managing Director, Kjetil Tungland, and Albania’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy, Edmond Haxhinasto, on January 18, 2013.

TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and further into Western Europe. TAP’s initial pipeline capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres per year, but it is easily expandable to 20 billion cubic metres per year.