EU to ask Azerbaijan to raise gas supplies because of disagreements with Russia

Baku/29.01.22/Turan: The European Union will hold talks with Azerbaijan next week to discuss the possibility of raising gas supplies to Europe via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). This was reported by the Financial Times with reference to the sources.

In accord with the newspaper, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson intends to visit Baku where he will meet with Azerbaijani Energy Minister Pyarviz Shahbazov and Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources.

"We expect the talks to focus on Azerbaijan's role in the diversification of gas supplies to Europe," the source said.

Azerbaijan currently exports about 16 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, 10 billion of which go to Turkey, and the rest to Italy, Bulgaria and Greece.

Discussions about the possible increase of Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe have intensified due to tensions between the EU and Russia over the crisis around Ukraine.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said that German authorities are ready to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in case of Russian "invasion" of Ukraine. -02В-