The construction of the five billion euros Trans Adriatic gas Pipeline (TAP) started in five countries in Southeastern Europe, writes Reuters. TAP will facilitate the annual transport to Italy of more than 10 billion cubic meters of gas extracted from the Caspian Sea.

The 870 kilometers pipeline is part of a larger gas network project called Southern Gas Corridor, consisting of a series of interconnections with a cumulative length of over 3,500 kilometers.

“Southeast Europe’s energy map is redesigned and this makes Greece an energy hub in the region,” said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the beginning of works in northern Greece.

TAP will cross Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania to reach southern Italy by the Adriatic Sea. “We inaugurate an important part of one of the largest and most complex projects in the history of the energy industry,” said the Georgian Prime Minister Georgy Kvirikashvili.

The project is run by a consortium of companies consisting of BP, SOCAR, SNAM, Fluxys, Engas and Axpo. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) analyzes the provision of a financing of up to 1.5 billion euros for TAP, which would be the largest loan ever granted by the EBRD.