“Everything is going to be alright. We just need to calm down and wait for certain results,” the Advisor to the Azerbaijani company SOCAR Energy Georgia, Giorgi Khukhashvili, told Vestnik Kavkaza after negotiations between Georgian Premier Giorgi Kvirikashvili and the head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev. The visit of the head of the Azerbaijani oil company became urgent when relations between Tbilisi and Baku, which used to be characterized as a “strategic partnership,” were overcast by numerous statements of the Georgian Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze about readiness to “fill the deficit of natural gas with imports of gas from Gazprom.”
The statement itself couldn’t cause indignation on the part of Baku, as Azerbaijan also imports gas from Russia. However, the former football player of AC Milan, trying to explain the essence and the reasons for several talks with Alexey Miller, stated that, first of all, “Azerbaijan was unable to provide the necessary volume of gas for technical reasons,” and secondly, “SOCAR’s price for additional volumes of gas was higher than Gazprom’s price.”
The leadership of the Russian energy giant didn’t confirm the messages. According to Gazprom’s statement, talks between Kaladze and Miller, as well as with the top manager of the company Elena Burmistrova, touched on monetization of payments for transit of Russian gas to Armenia. Today Georgia gets 10% of all its gas which is exported by Russia through the strategic Vladikavkaz-Tbilisi-Yerevan pipeline. It seems Gazprom prefers to pay in cash rather than in gas. At the same time, Moscow would like to return to the Georgian market and sign a contract on regular gas supplies, but nobody has talked about “the price paid” directly.
Tbilisi understands how it is important to maintain good relations with Azerbaijan. That’s why the head of SOCAR has met not only Kaladze, but also Premier Kvirikashvili, who has the full power in the country. “The strategic cooperation with SOCAR is highly important,” the head of the Georgian government stated ahead of the meeting. “Azerbaijan is a friend of Georgia, and this is the most important thing. We want to consider future relations together with our partners and solve all problems together. I think there are no technical obstacles which can prevent development of our cooperation.”
After extended talks, the Ministry of Energy of Georgia came to journalists and referred to figures again. At the moment the country gets about 9 million cubic meters of natural gas daily through two gas pipelines from Azerbaijan; one of them belongs to SOCAR directly. Another 2.5 million cubic meters come to Georgia from the transit of Russian gas to Armenia. However, according to Kakha Kaladze, 11.5 million cubic meters daily “are not enough for Georgian consumers anymore, as consumption of gas has grown by 20% in the country over three years; and it is still growing.” The Minister stated that Tbilisi had to look for an alternative to get at least additional 1.5 million cubic meters of gas daily. As long as the capacity of the SOCAR pipeline cannot be increased, Tbilisi is studying the opportunity to sign a contract with Gazprom.
The irony of fate is that the increase of consumption of gas in Georgia is an achievement of SOCAR: in recent years the Azerbaijani company has done a lot to extend the gas network to Georgian districts where people have received natural gas for the first time in history.
According to Vestnik Kavkaza’s data, during the talks between the SOCAR head and the Premier and the Minister of Energy of Georgia, a possible contract with Gazprom wasn’t discussed at all. The issue is outside of Azerbaijani-Georgian relations. The Azerbaijani side is continuing to study possible solutions to technical problems which prevent increasing gas imports. “At the moment, both gas pipelines from Azerbaijan to Georgia are working at full capacity; but in winter, it is not enough for the full gas supply of the country. Therefore, we plan to take steps on providing additional volumes through the existing pipelines,” the Administration of the Georgian government commented on the talks.
Moreover, Rovnag Abduallayev expressed his interest in a project of construction of a major gasholder in Georgia, which was being discussed in Tbilisi at the highest level. “Azerbaijan supports Georgia’s plan to build the gasholder,” the Director General of SOCAR Energy Georgia, Makhir Mamedov, stated after the meeting with Prime Minister Kvirikashvili.
The opposition United National Movement has already heavily criticized the ruling Georgian Dream coalition for “undermining relations with the reliable partner SOCAR,” threatening to hold protests. However, all official sources and professional experts make it clear that there is no reason for drama, as nothing threatens long-term Azerbaijani-Georgian relations in energy or other spheres, despite the current difficulties.
