European Commission (EC) representative Margaritis Schinas stated on Tuesday that the EU began the construction of the Trans Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP).

 Schinas mentioned that the official ceremony of launching the construction of the Trans Adriatic gas pipeline will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece today. The ceremony will be attended by European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič. She also added that they expect that by the end of construction in 2019 or 2020, ten billion cubic meters of gas will be delivered per year, TASS reported.

TAP - the gas pipeline which will become a key element of the Southern gas corridor for transportation of natural gas bypassing Russia. Its length is 880 kilometers, it will connect Greece and Italy through the Adriatic Sea and the Balkans.

TAP is the final link of the Southern gas corridor, which is directed to transportation of the Caspian gas through the Transcaucasia and Turkey to the EU. In the future the Iranian gas fields can be connected to this project.