Vyacheslav Kulagin: Russia's priority is stable South Caucasus

Republics of South Caucasus are Russia's neighbors that share rich history and common future, the head of the Center for International Energy Markets ERI RAS, Vyacheslav Kulagin, said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, speaking about Russia's contacts with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia in the energy sector.

Ahead of the 98th anniversary of the proclamation of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia (Georgia's independence day on May 26th, the Republic Day of Azerbaijan on May 28th, and the Day of the Republic of Armenia on May 28th) 'Vestnik Kavkaza' publishes opinions of Russian politicians, economists and cultural figures about relations between Russia and these countries.

"Russia is interested in fruitful cooperation with the republics, maintaining their independence and maximum stability in the region. Escalations, similar to what we see today in Karabakh, are not good for Russia: Moscow's interest is simple - a peaceful life and development for both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Any tensions inevitably influence Russia. It is beneficial for us to cooperate and develop various mechanisms of interaction, ensuring peace in the region. Stable geopolitical and economic situation in the South Caucasus should be a priority of Russia's foreign policy in respect to these countries.

In the energy sector Russia and Azerbaijan have mutual goals in oil and gas production. "Today we are working as independent states. A number of projects with the participation of Russian companies are being implemented in Azerbaijan. We cooperate in the sphere of human resources and exchange experience in the field of technology. In particular, the issue of increasing the oil recovery factor is quite important for Russia and Azerbaijan. Our bilateral partnership enhanced by the fact that the two countries are located on the Caspian sea and they are responsible for the development of the sea and its preservation under conditions of an ongoing oil and gas extraction," the expert said.

A new level of cooperation is expected in the gas sector. "The natural gas of the 'Shahdeniz' deposit gives Azerbaijan an opportunity to use its resource to the outmost, transferring the oil share on the market to the gas sector," Vyacheslav Kulagin noted.

As for Armenia, after Yerevan joined EAEC the republic automatically became a participant of the economic integration projects in the Eurasian space. "Russian business seriously monitors what is happening in Armenia, and where there is an opportunity for growth, including in the energy sector. Armenian business is traditionally well represented in Russia starting from agriculture products to small business, where Armenian colleagues are trying to work," the economist noted.

As for Georgia, the diplomatic ties were severed and the country decided to stop buying Russian gas (today Russia pays Tbilisi with gas only for the transit of gas to Armenia), but we are witnessing an informal thaw in the relations. "Russia has always expressed readiness to normalize contacts [with its neighbor] and the Georgian leadership now shows that they are ready to cooperate with us in many spheres in a constructive way. It is clear that differences between the countries in respect to Abkhazia and South Ossetia will pose a constant risk to the relations, depending on who will be in power in Tbilisi. But Georgia is still interested in developing cooperation with Russia in the energy sphere,'' the head of the Center for International energy markets ERI RAS concluded.