ROME, October 29. /TASS/. The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), now in construction, going from Azerbaijan to Italy, was not meant as an alternative or direct competitor to Russia’s South Stream, Head of TAP’s representative office in Italy Giampaolo Russo said in an interview on Wednesday.

Russo did not rule out indirect competition of TAP with South Stream because of diversification of gas supplies to Europe when TAP is launched, but the two pipelines can co-exist peacefully, he said.

The South Stream pipeline will carry Russian gas to the EU bypassing Ukraine. Gas will be pumped to the Bulgaria’s Black Sea port of Varna before extending overland through Serbia, Hungary, and Slovenia to supply gas to the Western Europe via Italy and Austria. The pipeline’s capacity amounts to 63 billion cubic meters.