Georgia on purchase of Azerbaijani gas in 2017
Georgia won’t increase the purchase of Azerbaijani gas in 2017, despite the refusal to purchase Russian gas, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Mariam Valishvili said.
Valishvili noted that in 2016, the supply of gas from Azerbaijan to Georgia increased by nearly 100-150 million cubic meters and there is no need for additional gas volumes, as the supply of the above-mentioned volume will completely meet Georgia’s need for gas in 2017.
Earlier, Georgia’s Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze said that no deals will be concluded to purchase Russian gas until late 2017 and since April 2017, Georgia will completely switch to supplying the population and enterprises with gas from Azerbaijan.
"If there is an accident, we have the opportunity to supply gas from Russia, but I don’t think that commercial gas will be supplied from Russia," said Valishvili.
Azerbaijan has been the main exporter of gas to Georgia for many years. Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and the Consortium, which is developing the Shah Deniz gas condensate field are the suppliers of gas from Azerbaijan to Georgia.
In previous years, Georgia received 10 percent of Russian gas supplies to Armenia as a transit payment. The country hasn’t purchased Russian gas since 2007. In early 2017, the sides agreed on switching to cash settlements in payment for gas transit. Meanwhile, it wasn’t possible to reach an agreement on commercial supply of Russian gas in Georgia.
Azerbaijan, UAE reps to mull creation of new JV
Representatives of Azerbaijan and the UAE will discuss creation of a joint venture (JV) in the agriculture sphere, Azerbaijani Deputy Economy Minister Sahil Babayev said.
He didn’t specify when it is planned to begin the negotiations.
"It is expected that the JV will be established in Azerbaijan and will be manufacturing agricultural products that will be sold not only in Azerbaijan and the UAE, but also in other foreign markets," Babayev said.
He noted that Azerbaijan wants to promote all non-oil products, which have export potential, in the foreign markets.
"We export our products taking into account the needs of the foreign markets, their pricing policy and quality criteria," he said. "For example, currently we choose the most competitive goods for the Kazakh market and supply these products first of all, and we will start exporting other products in the future."
"Another example is Russia, where we supply tomatoes, because this country has the highest prices for these products," Babayev added. "We cannot force our entrepreneurs to sell their goods in the markets where they will suffer losses because of low prices."