In 2025, Turkish company Botas and Russia's Gazprom plan to officially launch the "Istanbul Gas Index," a gas trading platform developed as part of the joint Russian-Turkish gas hub initiative, according to Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar. He noted that a memorandum of understanding has been shared with all interested parties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed Gazprom to participate in the platform’s operations. The exchange will be based at the Istanbul Financial Center, where the "Istanbul Gas Index" will establish gas price benchmarks. Turkey has repeatedly expressed ambitions to transform Istanbul’s financial center into a hub for gas pricing.
Russia is prepared to conduct gas sales in line with the Istanbul Gas Index. The concept of creating an international gas hub in Turkey was first proposed in fall 2022 during a meeting between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The initiative emerged following sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which had previously been key routes for Russian gas to Europe.
Currently, Russia’s gas transit to Europe operates solely through Ukraine, but Gazprom’s five-year agreement to transit gas through Ukraine’s system is set to expire on December 31, 2024. Russia sees an opportunity to deliver significant gas volumes through Turkey (via the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines). By passing through this trading platform, involving multiple companies, the gas becomes "unbranded" and could be supplied to Europe as "Turkish Blend," as Bayraktar mentioned in September.
Economics
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Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov, participated in the "Circle of Leaders: Financing the Energy Transition - New Horizons" session during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, emphasizing the country’s strategic role in global energy security and its green energy transition initiatives.
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Around 200 employees of SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state oil company, staged a strike in Batumi, Georgia, on January 21,demanding wage increases, local outlet Batumelebi reported. Participants included technicians and staff from various departments who argued that their long-standing minimal salaries fail to reflect their workload.
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On January 21, during a meeting in Davos, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Henrik Poulsen, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carlsberg Group, and Jacob Aarup-Andersen, the company's CEO. The discussions emphasized Carlsberg Group's expanding presence in Azerbaijan and its commitment to developing local production and sustainability.
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In 2024, Azerbaijan's "Single Window" Export Support Center processed 1,747 requests from businesses and individuals, facilitating the issuance of 3,982 export certificates. According to Vusal Gasimli, Executive Director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications, these efforts supported export operations valued at USD 288.2 million.
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