Baku, Tbilisi discuss expansion of SOCAR’s operations in Georgia

Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and Georgia’s Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili discussed the expansion of SOCAR’s operations in Georgia during their meeting in Tbilisi.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 11th Steering Committee Meeting pursuant to the Agreement on Strategic Partnership in the field of Green Energy Development and Transmission between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Ministry of Energy.

The two sides underlined that the friendship and mutual trust between Azerbaijan and Georgia form the basis of their long-term partnership, while the close relations between the countries’ leaders enable the successful implementation of joint projects and the achievement of mutually beneficial outcomes.

“It was noted that multifaceted bilateral energy cooperation is one of the main pillars of the Azerbaijan-Georgia Strategic Partnership and remains the number one partner of our country in the energy supply of Georgia. SOCAR's investment of more than 2 billion USD in Georgia has been assessed as contributions to energy relations, including Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Supsa, Southern Gas Corridor projects, and extensive cooperation in the field of hydrocarbons and electricity,” the ministry said.

During the meeting, the sides discussed gas and electricity supply and transit issues, matters related to expanding SOCAR’s activities in Georgia, as well as planned projects.

The parties noted that forging ahead with new projects to strengthen energy cooperation is a shared priority. In this regard, the “Caspian-Black Sea-European Green Energy Corridor” project was emphasised as strategically important, serving as a new energy link between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Europe.

“It was noted that the Black Sea submarine cable project and the Green Energy Corridor are being developed in parallel, and strengthening coordination between both projects can increase cooperation between the participating states and companies to ensure the effectiveness of the implementation process, and allow both projects to gain maximum support from the European Union and financial institutions,” the ministry reported.

The sides also exchanged views on the feasibility study of the interconnector designed to expand power links and electricity trade between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye and Bulgaria.

By Jeyhun Aghazada