This includes all engineering, procurement and construction scope, he explained.

Schieppati presented TAP’s achievements and progress as of end-January 2018, as follows:

TAP remains on track to deliver world-class health and safety performance across Greece, Albania and Italy. The TAP teams have collectively worked over 23 million manhours and driven approximately 65 million kilometres without a major incident.

TAP’s contractors have cleared approx. 92 percent of the project route in Greece and Albania (700km out of 765km). Also, over 67 percent of welded steel pipes are already laid in the ground (backfilled), while almost 400km (over 51 percent) are reinstated.

In Italy, works are ongoing in the micro-tunnel area: following the completion of the temporary road and the area preparation, the digging of micro-tunnel pit is currently under way.

All 55,000 pipes have been received in Greece, Albania and Italy.

More than 5,800 people are currently working for the project across TAP’s host countries - over 85 percent of which are employed locally.

TAP has implemented a wide range of social and environmental investment (SEI) programs in the communities along its route. In total, TAP will invest over 55 million euros in SEI in Greece, Albania and Italy.

TAP, worth 4.5 billion euros, is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

The pipeline will connect to the TANAP on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.

TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers).

TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

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