Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 8
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
The Azerbaijani delegation, consisting of representatives of Finance Ministry, State Oil Fund (SOFAZ), and the Southern Gas Corridor CJSC, took part in the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in Washington, said Azerbaijani Finance Ministry in a message Oct. 8.
The delegation led by the country’s Finance Minister Samir Sharifov held discussions related to the financing of the Southern Gas Corridor project during the visit.
The message says that a video message of the US President Barack Obama was shown and the current situation in the world economy and main directions of its development, sustainable and balanced development strategy, poverty eradication, improvement of financial markets, effectiveness of financial aid, as well as the challenges facing the global economy were discussed during the meeting’s closing ceremony, which was attended by high-ranking representatives of member countries of the IMF and WB, international financial institutions, representatives of civil society and private sector.
During Sharifov’s working meetings, which were held within the event, with WB Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Cyril Muller, CEO and Executive Vice President of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Keiko Honda, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Pim Van Ballekom, Vice Presidents of the Asian Development Bank Wencai Zhang and Diwakar Gupta, as well as with representatives of several authoritative commercial banks, issues related to the second phase of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas and condensate field, the participation of the above-mentioned organizations in the financing of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which envisages the transportation of the Shah Deniz gas, and other prospects of cooperation were discussed, according to the message.
During the visit, the Azerbaijani delegation also held meetings with the US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs at the US State Department Amos Hochstein and Assistant Secretary for International Markets and Development at the US Department of the Treasury Marisa Lago.
“During these meetings, the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, continuation of strategic cooperation in the energy sector were discussed and Azerbaijan’s praise regarding the US government support for the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project was noted, the importance of attempts and ongoing work for the promotion of transcontinental transportation through Azerbaijan was highlighted, and an exchange of views was held on transnational projects and other issues within the close cooperation with international financial institutions,” said the message.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.
At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Other sources can also join this project at a later stage.
As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and TAP.
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