Azerbaijan to invest in gasification of Albania – Ilham Aliyev

Baku/07.07.23/Turan: The feasibility study of the gasification of Albania will be ready by the end of this year, after which the implementation of this project will begin entirely with Azerbaijani investments, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated today speaking to the press together with his Albanian counterpart Bayram Begay at the end of bilateral negotiations. The work on the gasification project of Albania is proceeding according to schedule, Aliyev noted.

"By the end of this year, we will have a feasibility study of this project in our hands. And after that, I hope we will immediately start investing. These will be purely Azerbaijani investments in Albania, intended for the construction of a gas distribution network," the head of state noted.

Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Albania in the energy sector is important not only for the two countries, but also for a large number of other states, in particular, the countries participating in the TAP project, which is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, crosses the territory of Albania and is now a source of energy security in Europe, Aliyev continued.

According to Aliyev, "Azerbaijan's gas exports to the EU market are growing, volumes are growing and the geography (of supplies) is expanding. "By the end of this year, we expect that even more EU member states will start receiving natural gas from Azerbaijan," the President said.

Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijani investors are ready to seriously consider investment projects in Albania, whether in tourism, agriculture or any other field. "I think that in the coming months we will have more information about this, which will also open a new page in our relations," the head of Azerbaijan added.

Touching upon political relations, Aliyev gratefully recalled Albania's blocking of the adoption of the anti-Azerbaijani document last year at the Francophonie summit. ---06B--