It has been agreed that a feasibility study will be completed and a business model proposed by the next ministerial meeting in Tirana in the first quarter of 2014, which will also be attended by partners and investors, said Vrdoljak.
He said the ministers confirmed their governments' commitment to the construction of the IAP, which would open new energy prospects for Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro as well as enable Croatia to become a regional energy hub. Such a position would reinforce the security of supply and offer Croatian consumers the most affordable gas prices.
Bosnian Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Minister Mirko Sarovic said his country was interested in participating in the IAP project but that the Bosnian public was disappointed to hear that the pipeline would not pass through Bosnia. He said the ministers agreed today to reconsider the passage of the pipeline through the Neum hinterland.
Vrdoljak said Bosnia stayed in the project regardless of the route and that the final route would be decided by the partner and the investor.
The project was praised by Albanian Energy and Industry Minister Damian Gijknuri, Montenegrin Economy Minister Vladimir Kavaric, and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) CEO Kjetil Tungland.
The IAP envisages linking the gas pipelines of Croatia via Montenegro to the TAP in Albania. From the Shah Deniz II fields in Azerbaijan, the 870 km TAP would transport gas to Italy via Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea. The plan is to develop and build the two projects together.
The IAP section from Split, Croatia to Feri, Albania will be 516 km long and have an annual capacity of five billion cubic metres. The project will supply natural gas to the participating countries and transport the surplus to other countries in Europe.
Croatia's IAP section, from Dugopolje to the Montenegrin border, is 250 km long and the investment is estimated at EUR 265 million.
The IAP will provide for a two-way gas flow, which will enable Southeast Europe to get natural gas supplies from other sources, notably from an LNG terminal to be built on the northern Adriatic island of Krk and other potential Adriatic sources that are being explored.