Georgia, Tbilisi, 17 March / corr. Trend N. Kirtskhalia/ Georgia has announced that it will end talks on import of Azerbaijani gas for its needs, soon in 2008.
"The talks on the import of gas from Azerbaijani will end in the near future," Aleksandr Khetaguri, the energy minister of Georgia said to journalists on 17 March in Tbilisi.
"At present, the talks are being held on the price of the natural gas, as well as on the technical details," the minister said.
The minister said that Rovnag Abdullayev, the head of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will visit Tbilisi this week and additional talks will be held with SOCAR head as well.
At present, Georgia and Azerbaijan are discussing a new agreement on the gas supply. The contract will be signed with SOCAR, but not with Azerigas like the one in last year. As the members of Azerbaijani government stated earlier, Azerbaijan can supply Georgia with 500mln cu. meters of gas per year- while Georgia needs totals to 1-1.5bln cu. Meters of gas per year. In 2008, the price of Azerbaijani gas for Georgia can be increased up to $180-$190 for 1000 cu. meters from the current $120.