17 May 2016, Thessaloniki, Greece . Under the auspices of Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) marked the start of construction of the pipeline project.
The significance of TAP as a strategic piece of the Southern Gas Corridor infrastructure, which will bring initial volumes of gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, was underlined by the presence of the Prime Minister of Georgia Georgi Kvirikashvili, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Yaqub Eyyubov, the Deputy Prime Minister of Albania Niko Peleshi, the EU Vice President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič, the US Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Amos Hochstein, the Minister of Energy of Turkey Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Economic Development of Italy Carlo Calenda, the Minister of Energy of Bulgaria Temenuzhka Petkova, as well as the Switzerland State Secretary Federal Office of Energy Walter Steinmann.
Shareholders from BP, SOCAR, Snam, Fluxys, Enagás and Axpo and over 300 high-level guests attended the event. The ceremony concluded with the signing of a pipe casing.
The 48 inch diameter Trans Adriatic Pipeline, which constitutes the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, is a gateway project that will deliver 10bcm/a of new Caspian gas supplies to Europe from 2020
Back row from the left
- John Oikonomou, Makedoniki
- Lia Arvaniti, ENY Law Firm
- Panagiotis Karamoschos, Makedoniki
- Dritan Agolli, Gener 2
- Bashkim Ulaj, Gener 2
- Karl Roberts, TAP
- Apostolos Papavasileiou, Corinth Pipeworks
- Norman Ingram, TAP
- Dimitris Koutras, Aktor
- Jacqelin De La Porte Des, Spiecapag
- Wayne Wheeler, TAP
- Mark Lindsay, TAP
Front row from the left
- Christos Manolas, TAP
- Theodore Zervas, TAP
- Stathis Theodoropoulos, TAP
- Kostas Tsirikis, TAP
- Diana Markaki,
- Stefano Porcari, Saipem
- Kostas Mitzalis, J&P Avax
- Paolo Ghirelli, Bonatti
- Joe Shone, TAP
# Under licence of ΤΑΡ