The occasion was marked by an inauguration ceremony near the town of Fier, attended by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, Minister of Energy and Industry, Damian Gjiknuri, and TAP Managing Director, Ian Bradshaw.

Speaking to the audience that included representatives of the local authorities and other key stakeholders, Prime Minister Rama and Energy Minister Gjiknuri emphasised the importance of the project to Albania.

As one of the largest foreign investments in the country, TAP will have a positive impact on the country’s energy sector and will help encourage other foreign investments, they said.

"TAP has made huge progress over these last few years and the evidence is what you see here today: steel pipes on the ground, heavy machinery in the background, trenches dug waiting for pipe to be laid. All this, with many hundreds of thousands of safe hours worked,” said TAP Managing Director Ian Bradshaw.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.

The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

TAP’s route through Albania will be approximately 215 kilometres onshore and 37 km offshore in the Albanian section of the Adriatic Sea.