The Ministry of Mining and Oil of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has declared "full readiness" to start work on the TAPI gas pipeline, TOLO news reports.
The legal and technical hurdles in Afghanistan have been resolved, but the project is being delayed due to problems in other TAPI member countries, said Afghan ministry spokesman Homayoun Afghan.
Deputy Minister of Economy of the country Abdul Latif Nazari called on the World Bank to take part in financing the project, "so that we all achieve regional goals."
In June 2022, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Oil stated that work on the construction of the gas pipeline was delayed due to the fact that the land on which the pipeline would be laid had not been acquired. Probably, this moment was meant by the representative of the Afghan department under "legal obstacles."
In January 2023, representatives of the Afghan government announced their readiness to create special forces to ensure the security of TAPI.
At the moment, the problem of financing the construction of the gas pipeline has not been resolved. The countries participating in the project divided the funding as follows: Turkmenistan pledged to attract 85% of the construction cost, and Afghanistan, Pakistan and India - 5% each.
However, in 2022, participation in the project was suspended by the Asian Development Bank, which was the coordinator of the project, until "until the Taliban government is recognized by the UN and the major economies of the world." The Taliban, in turn, said that construction would continue without ADB.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
March 7, 2023