(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, APRIL 26 - The TAP gas pipeline project is
currently for Italy the ''only option'' on the table for a
direct connection to Caspian gas supplies. For this reason ''we
are asking for the support of Italian authorities,'' TAP's head
of external relations, Michael Hoffman, said today in Brussels.
After ITGI was excluded from the Shah Deniz competition, ''we
have no time to lose'', underscored Hoffman, who is in Brussels
for a series of meetings with European institutions and the
embassies of the countries involved in the project.
The executive said that the current situation is ''highly
competitive'', with two competitors for the other possible route
- which would go from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to
Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria instead of Greece,
Albania and Italy.
Shah Deniz's final choice will be made in mid-2013, and to win
TAP needs Italy's firm support since otherwise it may be left
out. Hoffmann added that ''we would be happy to have Italian
companies take part.''
The construction of the gas pipeline in the Puglia region would
occur in winter and ''there will be no visible impact'' on the
territory and marine environment, he claimed. The ball is now in
the hands of the Italian government. In May Prime Minister Monti
will be paying a visit to Albania and the Tap project is one of
the items to be discussed in the talks scheduled with Albania's
Prime Minister Sali Berisha. (ANSAmed).
