Georgia will buy gas from Azerbaijan, not from Russia

Tbilisi/18/06/14/Turan-BSPRESS: Today, the Georgian government has refused to purchase Russian gas, said the Deputy Minister of Energy of Georgia Marika Valishvili in an interview with the Georgian radio Kommersant.

"Our government has no plans to change the main supplier of gas, which is currently Azerbaijan," she said.

In May 2013 the Minister of Energy of Georgia Kakha Kaladze announced a new policy of diversifying gas supplies, and instructed the appropriate agencies to consider alternative sources. In particular, a proposal for deliveries of Russian and Kazakh gas was discussed. "We will do everything to ensure that in the future we are not limited to one source of gas. The more competition we have, the lower the price is. Moreover, we do not consider giving up Azerbaijani gas. Azerbaijan was, is and remains our strategic partner and we are pleased that we get gas at a very good price from there. Regarding other vendors, it can be both Russia and Kazakhstan. The presence of alternatives is normal," said Kaladze.

The Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR is currently one of the largest investors in Georgia, which has invested heavily in a variety of industries of the Georgian economy, including the energy sector and the social sphere. Nevertheless, SOCAR is sympathetic to the request of the Georgian government. The company told Radio Kommersant the search for alternative sources of gas is the sovereign right of Georgia and Azerbaijan has no intention to somehow interfere with this process and will continue to supply gas at the current price. The Azerbaijani company believes that there is a need to compete in economic rather than political means and it is confident that no vendor can offer more favorable terms to Georgia. -02D-