Ukraine May Seek Interest in TANAP

Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey Sergiy Korsunsky has said that Ukraine may seek a stake of up to ten percent in the Trans Anatolian pipeline project.

Speaking at the CIS Oil and Gas Summit in Paris today in an expert role, rather than that of a government representative, the ambassador said that Ukraine saw the pipeline as "good business", one that would be beneficial to the country, even if it did not off-take any gas supply for itself from the pipeline.

Currently, the TANAP project has three shareholders, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) at 80 per cent and TPAO and Botas each holding a 10 per cent stake.

While operator SOCAR currently holds a massive stake in the pipeline, it is aiming to open up the project to other shareholders, with an undisclosed percentage of its stake up for grabs. However, it has said previously that preference in the project will go first to companies with an interest in Azerbaijan. At the moment, Ukraine is not involved in any projects in the Azeri gas sector.

Despite this, Ukraine has previously publicly stated its interest in the project, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov saying earlier this month that Ukraine was ready to "make a financial contribution and provide pipes and compressor stations" to the TANAP project.

The search for projects in which it could play a role is part of Ukraine's attempt to break its dependence on Russian gas, currently imported through major Gazprom.

The Trans Anatolian pipeline is just one of several projects Ukraine is interested in so far, with the Trans-Caspian pipeline and reverse flow of existing pipelines also on the agenda.

Natural Gas Europe is a media partner of the CIS Oil and Gas Summit