Europe will launch on Tuesday the construction of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a project key to the diversification of gas supply sources and routes on the continent.

The project’s main objective is to improve security of supply by decreasing EU’s dependence on imports of Russian gas via Ukraine and linking consumers directly to gas deposits in the Caspian Basin and the Middle East.

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister for European funds and economic policy, Tomislav Donchev, and Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova will take part in an official ceremony marking the start of construction works, according to a statement from the government press office in Sofia issued on Monday. The ceremony will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece on Tuesday afternoon.

TAP is the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, which aims to connect the EU market to new gas sources. With an initial annual capacity of 10 billion cubic metres of gas, the 878-km long pipeline is projected to carry gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to the EU market as of 2020.

TAP will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at Turkey's border with Greese and run about 480 km on Greek territory before crossing Albania and reaching southern Italy, under the Adriatic Sea. Bulgaria will link to TAP by a gas interconnector with Greece, the construction of which is scheduled to begin in October 2016.

The new route can facilitate gas supply to several countries of Southeastern Europe - Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and others. From Italy, Caspian gas can be transported to some of the largest European markets such as Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland and Austria.