Baku, Azerbaijan, July 19
By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:
The leading financial institutions of the EU will probably support the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project in the near future, Fuad Isgandarov, head of the Azerbaijani mission to the EU and the country’s ambassador to Belgium, said in an interview with Trend.
According to him, the EU has always clearly expressed its political support for the Southern Gas Corridor project, and this is very important.
“The struggle for supply to the European market is quite serious, and in this context, the position of the EU and the EU member states is very important for working in this direction in the long term. All the actions that we see by our European partners are aimed at promoting the project,” noted Isgandarov.
He noted that this support is important for overcoming many of the technical and bureaucratic obstacles that exist, in particular, problems related to technology, management, and solution of legislative, regulatory and legal tasks.
This project connects two member countries of the European Union – Greece and Italy, candidates for the EU membership – Turkey and Albania, and two EU partners – Azerbaijan and Georgia, said the ambassador.
In other words, it is a unique project that connects three blocks of countries – members, candidate members and partners, which gives a positive momentum to the Eastern Partnership project, added Isgandarov.
As for financial issues, the ambassador noted the cooperation of European financial institutions with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and other oil and gas companies.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of 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 projects. Other sources can also connect to 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 and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.