Georgian deputy prime minister, minister of energy Kakha Kaladze noted the importance of the East-West Energy Corridor intended for export of Azerbaijani oil to the global markets, Sputnik news agency reported.
Georgia and Azerbaijan mark the 20th anniversary of the East-West Energy Corridor, the base of which was laid by Baku-Supsa oil pipeline. Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev came to Tbilisi for that purpose.
"This is not just an investment worth $550 million," Kaladze said at the meeting with Azerbaijani guests. "It was the beginning of a strategic and successful cooperation between Georgia and Azerbaijan, which intensifies from year to year."
This agreement helped to return Georgia a role of a transit country, the deputy prime minister said.
The deal to launch the Baku-Supsa pipeline project was signed March 8, 1996. The oil pipeline was commissioned in 1999 to deliver oil to the terminal on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. The pipeline has a total length of 830km and it transits about 7 million tons of oil annually (about 140,000 barrels per day).