Rovnag Abdullayev: We are determined to become Turkey's second biggest gas supplier

Along with being a new source of gas for Europe, we are determined to become Turkey's second biggest gas supplier, SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev said while speaking at the opening ceremony of Phase 2 of TANAP held in Ipsala settlement of Edirne, Turkey.

"In line with Ilham Aliyev's instructions and recommendations, SOCAR, which assumed important tasks of further strengthening of economic relations between two fraternal states - Turkey and Azerbaijan and supporting them with strategic investments, implements the historic saying of our National Leader Heydar Aliyev 'One nation, two states'."

"Today we are here for the opening ceremony of the second phase of TANAP pipeline which is to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe. This ceremony is yet another clear demonstration of the success of our cooperation. Four years ago our heads of state adopted a historic decision to build TANAP. In this respect, a great trust was shown to SOCAR when the glorious task of building TANAP was entrusted to the company. The strenuous efforts we undertook for the worthy implementation of tasks set have produced their result. Last year we commissioned the Southern Gas Corridor and the first section of TANAP. Over 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas have already been transported to the Turkish market."

Rovnag Abdullayev noted that TANAP is fully prepared for transportation of gas to Europe and the construction of this historic communication line which runs from the Turkey's East to its West was carried timely and qualitatively. "With the completion of the construction of Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline which will connect to TANAP on the Turkey-Greece border, for the first time in history, Azerbaijani natural gas will be transported from the Caspian basin directly to the European markets. Along with being a new source of gas for Europe, we are determined to become Turkey's second biggest gas supplier. We managed to worthily implement this giant TANAP project which we assumed together with joint companies. Though it is the first time that we, as SOCAR, have implemented such a complex project beyond the country, we managed to effectively complete the construction works. We could complete the construction at a lower price than that predicted by the international consulting companies evaluating the project, and save the funds of both Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as BP, which are the shareholders of the pipeline," he said.