Trans Adriatic Pipeline To Bring Greece Leading Role in European Energy

The Foreign Ministry’s Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation, Peter Mihalos, noted in his welcome speech this morning, at a scientific conference on the “Trans Adriatic Pipeline Energy Project,” the geopolitical and economic significance for Greece of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The conference took place at the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s “Hermes” hall, and was co-organized by Panteion University’s Institute of International Relations (IDIS) and the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE).

Mr. Mihalos underscored that, given that the implementation of the project will serve diversification of natural gas sources for the European Union, with imports from the Caspian region, Greece will go from being a destination country of secondary importance to being a pan-European energy hub, concurrently returning with a leading role to the international investment scene, given that the project will be one of the largest Foreign Direct Investments every carried out in Greece, with an influx of an estimated €1.5 billion in investment capital.

Referring in particular to the project’s economic dimension, Mr. Mihalos stressed that it will ensure energy sufficiency – a prerequisite for the growth that creates added value in the economy – create 2,000 jobs directly and another 10,000 indirectly, upgrade infrastructure, and strengthen competitiveness to the benefit of the Greek consumer.

Mr. Mihalos also underscored that the TAP creates a strong framework for cooperation between Greece, Italy and Albania, as well as the countries of the Western Balkans that link up to the pipeline.

Mr. Mihalos noted the diplomatic marathon being run by Prime Minister Samaras and the political leadership of the Foreign Ministry to resolve pending issues, promote the advantages of the TAP and exhaust all avenues of support for the project up until the end of June, when the Shah Deniz II consortium, which has the natural gas deposits, will decide between the two proposed projects. Finally, he noted that today “we are making final adjustments to and are in the final stage of the signing of the Host Country Agreement.”