Azernews.Az

The economic efficiency of the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP) will exceed investments contributed to its realization by two-three times, the head of the Turkish delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, MP Ismail Safi told Trend news agency on Tuesday.

The TANAP project envisages the construction of a gas pipeline from Turkey's eastern border to the western border to transport gas from Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea to European markets through Turkey.

"The strategic cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan requires development of bilateral relations by expanding areas of cooperation," Safi.said. "Major projects are only a beginning, they will be followed by other related projects. For example, while the implementation of the TANAP project will require investments in the amount of ten billion dollars, the follow-up projects will require investments of 20-30 billion dollars."

Safi said TANAP is not only an important economic, but also a geo-strategic project.

Prior to the TANAP project, Nabucco project was on the agenda, which is supported, both by Turkey and Azerbaijan,. However, Nabucco was a completely European project, and the timing of its implementation was the subject to lengthy negotiations.

"TANAP project was created with the will of Azerbaijani and Turkish government. It is not an alternative to Nabucco, it is a complement, it's a completely Turk project," Safi said.

According to him, TANAP will transport natural resources of Azerbaijan to Turkey and to Europe through its territory.

"This project is completely under the control of Azerbaijan and Turkey. Gas production is important, but ensuring its export is even more important," he said.

On June 26 Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP implementation, which was ratified by the Azerbaijani parliament last week and was approved by President Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijan's SOCAR owns 80 percent in the TANAP project, while Turkey's BOTAS holds the remaining 20 percent.

Initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters a year. Around 6 billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey, while the rest will be transported to Europe.

According to preliminary estimates, the cost of the gas link will be around $7 billion. The construction of the pipeline is scheduled to begin in 2014 and finish in 2018.