Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev on Monday discussed “unique” partnership, regional and global challenges with a focus on Russia-Ukraine conflict and prospects to increase gas exports to Europe, the officials said at a press conference in the Georgian city of Mtskheta.
“Of course, we talked about the future energy policy. We exchanged opinions about the projects we have implemented. From an operational point of view, these projects are very successful and we expect to start new projects to increase the export of natural gas to international markets”, Aliyev said.
“This year we signed a memorandum of understanding to double natural gas exports to Europe. We have the opportunity to export almost 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe by 2027. We discussed this with the Prime Minister of Georgia”, Alyev added.
He stated that the load of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline would increase for the export of natural gas, and the Baku-Tbilisi terminal, which is currently temporarily suspended, would also be operational.
Aliyev suggested that his country planned to export electricity, which would also pass through the territory of Georgia.
“The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway can be loaded even more. This route is in the interest of all countries”, he said.
For his part Garibashvili hailed “unique friendship and partnership” between the two countries and stated that “Azerbaijan is the most important strategic partner” of Georgia.
“Georgia is one of the most important countries and friends of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan is the most important strategic partner,” he said, noting that during the meeting with Aliyev, they had reviewed the strategic projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project and Southern natural gas corridor.
The head of the Georgian government said that he had also discussed the current situation in the world and the region:
“We agree that what is happening in Ukraine should be settled through negotiations, in the face of complex challenges in the region and the world, peace and stability are of great importance”, he said.
Garibashvili also spoke about the peace agreement reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia and noted that Georgia was “fully ready” to continue promoting peaceful policies.
“The initiative of the peaceful neighborhood does not oppose and does not replace other formats of cooperation, on the contrary, it will help, and I believe we will do many important things together”, Garibashvili said.
