UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 9, 2019. ChelPipe Group signed a contract to ship more than 150,000,000 kg of large-diameter pipes to the state-owned company TurkmenGaz for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Pipeline, the Group’s press service reports.

Under the terms of the contract, around 200 km of TAPI Pipeline in Turkmenistan will be made from ChelPipe Group’s pipes. The first shipment of LDPs (diameter: 1,420 mm; steel grade: X70) with corrosion-resistant outer coating will take place in the second quarter of 2019.

‘ChelPipe Group keeps working to expand its export markets; the shipment for Turkmenistan’s section of the TAPI Pipeline is going to be our largest one in the last few years. The company managed to offer the best terms of delivery and after-sale services, outstripping ninety-three other bidders from Russia and all over the world,’ says the Group’s CFO Denis Prikhodko.

To comply with both the international banking and Islamic banking norms, the funding for the project gets provided by three finance institutions: ChelPipe Group’s partner Sberbank, Islamic Development Bank, and the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan. The three banks ensured smooth international cooperation and helped structure the deal with a payment guarantee (more than $200m).

Located across Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, TAPI will be 1,735 km long and will produce 33 billion m3 of natural gas a year.