The Albanian state-owned gas company "Albgaz" and the Italian "SNAM" signed in Tirana the agreement of the criation of a joint venture, which will aim at maintaining the pipeline of TAP of the part that passes into the territory of Albania.
The stock structure is divided into 75% for "Albgaz" and "SNAM" will get 25%. The Italian company SNAM guarantees the qualification of Joint Venture employees and the transfer of technological knowledge according to sector standards, but in particular to TAP. During the negotiation process, the Albanian government was assisted by Roland Berger's consultants thanks to the financial support the Swiss Confederation government has provided through SECO to provide technical assistance to increase the capacity of gas infrastructure in Albania.
"This agreement came after a very intensive negotiation, following transparent procedure ..."said Infrastructure and Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri.Further, he clarified that Albgaz's commitment to TAP's maintenance was achieved thanks to the renegotiation of the deal in 2016.
"The TAP pipeline maintenance administration was not a right that belongs to Albania. Rather, it has been the persistence of this government and the good will of the consortium that we have introduced one of the Albanian companies. For this reason, as we lacked the experience, we wanted to have an international partner. We are happy to have chose the "SNAM" of Italy and now we are entering a new service in Albania. So, an Albanian company and one Italian company but in the prospect of this knowledge will be transferred to the Albanian company that will be able to offer a well-known service from the international point of view ", - insisted Gjiknuri.
Present at the signing ceremony, Italian Ambassador Alberto Cutillo expressed satisfaction with this agreement.
"As ambassador of Italy, I am very pleased to sign this joint company today. A long job done these days by "SNAM" and "Albgaz" to come to this signing. I think when TAP's decision was taken, Albania had a choice before it would allow simply passing this tube through the country or making this pipeline into a source of economy and development...."