Opposition figure Gotsiridze questions who government is negotiating with over gas contract

Opposition politician Roman Gotsiridze has questioned who the Georgian government was negotiating with as the current gas contract approaches its expiry, asking whether talks were being held with Azerbaijan or with an international consortium.

Speaking on the issue, Gotsiridze said the government must clarify who it planned to negotiate with after the preferential gas agreement expires from 2026.

“When a gas contract expires, who is the government talking to - Azerbaijan or an international consortium?” he said. “The government must tell us, once the preferential gas contract ends in 2026, whether negotiations are being conducted with the Shah Deniz consortium or with Azerbaijan. These are two different things with very different consequences.”

Gotsiridze explained that Georgia currently receives around 500 million cubic metres of so-called additional low-cost gas from the international Shah Deniz consortium, whose main shareholder is British Petroleum. According to him, this discounted gas was not a gift, but part of the transit fee for pipelines running through Georgian territory, and therefore the contract should be extended specifically with the consortium.

“If this is not the case and the government is already negotiating with Azerbaijan, it means the contract is not being extended but the supplier is being replaced,” he said. “In other words, gas from the international consortium would be converted into more expensive gas supplied by SOCAR. This would be a very bad outcome, not only economically but also politically.”

Gotsiridze also criticised media coverage of the issue, saying it is often inaccurately described simply as “Azerbaijani gas.”

“This is just jargon,” he said. “Physically, the gas may be Azerbaijani, but in terms of ownership there are two different sources: one belongs to an international consortium, the other to the Azerbaijani state.”