The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline will be a dedicated pipeline system to transport crude oil from the Sangachal Terminal near Baku in Azerbaijan, through Georgia to a new marine terminal at Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Click here to learn more about BTC project.



The BTC project is a world-scale investment, supported by the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and backed by an international consortium of oil companies that form BTC Co.. Click here to learn more about BTC Co.

The environmental or social impacts arising from pipeline construction and operation in Turkey were identified and addressed in a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment which is available at www.caspiandevelopmentandexport.com

BTC Co has developed an Environmental Investment Programme for the three countries, to go beyond reduction of ecological impacts and bring additional benefits by supporting projects for the promotion and conservation of biodiversity with the principles of capacity building / technology transfer; sustainability; tangible impacts and linkages with other relevant initiatives.

The programme is focused on the protection and conservation of rare and endangered species and also on ecologically important areas. In Turkey, ecologically sustainable enterprise projects (ESEP) will be developed as an integral part of most projects and also under a separate key theme named small grants programme. ESEPs are ecology focused income generation component of the programme which support the sustainability of the programme objectives, and also serve to NGO capacity building and to community needs. Click here for information on the EIP.

Stakeholder dialogue has enabled the identification of key priority themes for funding under the EIP. Projects for each theme are identified through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process calling for submissions under the key priority themes. The first proposal tranche was advertised in 2003 and proposals evaluated according to pre-set criteria. More projects will be funded the same way starting from 2004. The EIP budget allocated for Turkey is US $ 3.3 million to be disbursed to organisations, in the form of grants.

The RFP process undertaken in 2003 allowed for identification of five projects for support. Two additional projects are currently under review and may be awarded in the near future if they demonstrate compliance with all the required criteria. See “Projects” menu for information on the EIP Projects supported by BTC Co

BTC Co's role is to manage the EIP, including the funds, programme monitoring and communications with interested stakeholders. BTC Co is also responsible for liaison with the implementing partners including monitoring of project execution and provision of support and training for the partners.