The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering the possibility to finance up to $1,7b of the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline in a record syndicated loan, its Managing Director of Energy said in an interview with Reuters.

The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, a system of pipelines that will transport Azeri gas to European markets for the first time, reducing the European Union’s reliance on Russian gas.

Riccardo Puliti, Managing Director of Energy at the EBRD, confirmed the loan in total would be the largest the EBRD has ever made. “Together with financing from the EIB (European Investment Bank), project sponsors’ equity and export credit agencies, I think the (project) will be fully financed,” Puliti said. The total construction of TAP is estimated at €6b, ABC.az reported.

Back to 2015, during the annual meeting between civil society and the EIB Board of Directors, the EIB revealed that the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline was among its priority projects for 2015 in the Balkans, Bank Watch reported.