(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSA) - BAKU - ''We have already gone past the point of no return . We have crossed the red line , and by 2020 we will deliver to Italy the 8 billion cubic metres of gas that the country is expecting''. With regard to the Trans - Adriatic pipeline , therefore , no change of mind is possible, according to Murat Heydarov , deputy president of SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state oil company , which owns 20 % of the project which will carry gas from Azerbaijan to Europe via Greece , Albania and Italy, via Turkey (thanks to another infrastructure, Tanap ) . Despite the protests of the ' No-Tap ' in San Foca ( Melendugno Municipality) and of some environmental groups - joined by the Region and forty mayors of Salento ( Lecce ) - who have attempted to block the works , the pipeline will be built . '' It is too late to reconsider the project ' ' , points out to ANSA New Europe the company's Vice President. ' ' We are patient and we know what happened in Puglia is not the Italian Government's fault . Indeed , we are very grateful to the government for the ' ' Via ' ' ( environmental impact assessment) given by the Ministry of Environment in September, against which the Municipality of Melendugno filed an appeal . After the withdrawal from the South Stream project announced last December 1 by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ankara (as a result of the sanctions for the Ukraine crisis) , the Tap has become a very strategic plan , though Heydarov minimizes . ' ' The Trans Adriatic Pipeline has always been complementary to the South Stream ' ' . The potential of the Trans pipeline will go well beyond the 10 billion cubic metres of gas provided. ' ' It will be possible to double the amount ' ' , Heydarov underlined. Already active in Turkey , Russia , Georgia , Switzerland and Italy , Socar does not hide his desire to expand. ' ' Our goal is to grow in Central and Eastern Europe''. At the moment, however, only Croatia stood out as ''alternative hub' ' , after Putin's withdrawal from South Stream. (ANSA) .