Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has arrived in Baku on a working visit. This visit was arranged during recent talks between the Georgian Prime Minister and the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Tbilisi. The main topic of their discussion was "the development of cooperation in the spheres of energy and transport," but they also discussed issues of regional security.
After the talks with Mammadyarov, the press service of the Georgian Prime Minister reported that Giorgi Kvirikashvili will visit Azerbaijan and hold talks with President Ilham Aliyev in the coming days. Such a coincidence and the very formulation can only mean one thing: that the head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry raised issues which require important political decisions during the talks with the Georgian Prime Minister, and negotiations at a higher level are needed in order to prepare these decisions.
According to the constitution, the Prime Minister, not the President, has the real power in Georgia. So it's no surprise that it is Kvirikashvili who is visiting Baku for talks with Ilham Aliyev.
Government sources told Vestnik Kavkaza that it is likely that they will discuss two strategic projects, the implementation of which could seriously affect the development of the two neighboring states – the development of 'Shahdeniz-2' for the supply of additional volumes of natural gas from the Caspian shelf to Western markets, as well as the completion of the 'Baku-Tbilisi-Kars' railway line.
The latter is especially interesting for two reasons. If the new pipeline will become the second pipeline along with 'Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum', in other words will strengthen the already existing South Caucasian gas pipeline network, then the 'Baku-Tbilisi-Kars' railway will link Georgia with Turkey and Europe. It will be the first time in history that Georgia is linked with these countries through this type of transport.
Now that the 'Marmaris' tunnel under the Bosphorus can be used, there are no technical obstacles to this project. But apparently the sides will have to hold additional consultations to address certain logistical and financial issues. And considering the fact that the leaders rarely meet without certain results, reached after prior consultations, we can conclude that a "breakthrough" in both directions will be announced after the meeting between Kvirikashvili and Aliyev in Baku. Otherwise, it is really difficult to explain such an urgent visit.
Indirect proof of these important decisions is the mention of the permanent growth of Azerbaijani investments and an unprecedented number of Azerbaijani tourists during the talks in the Georgian capital.
