TANAP to be financed by shareholder equity

ISTANBUL

Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) will be built from the Turkish-Georgian border to Turkey’s border with Europe to carry Azeri gas. REUTERS photo

The partners of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) that will carry Azerbaijani gas through Turkey do not plan to use any bank loans to finance the investment, estimated to total around $10-$12 billion, one of the shareholders’ executive has said.

“The entire project will be financed with equity and the investment cost of the project is currently estimated at $10-$12 billion,” said Sami Kerimli, the first vice-president of Socar Turkey.

Answering reporters’ questions after a meeting organized by the Caspian Strategies Institute on TANAP, Kerimli said the initial investment was planned to be financed by shareholder equities with the aim of speeding up the project.

He stressed that shareholders were not opposed to banks’ participation and their involvement could come to the table after the project was developed to a certain stage.

Currently, Socar holds a 70 percent stake in the TANAP project and Turkey holds a 30 percent stake, which will be built from the Turkish-Georgian border to Turkey’s border with Europe.

British energy giant BP, which is one of the members of gas supplier with the Shah Deniz II consortium, has vowed to acquire 12 percent of Socar-controlled stakes.

Therefore, Turkey’s state-owned pipeline company BOTAŞ will be forced to use $3 to 3.6 billion of its equity.