Azerbaijan urged the EU to rethink restrictions on the gas corridor
| « The EU market has an advantage in terms of legislation, rules and pricing, but we should not only look in the West, » Aliyev said during a conference. « We can look east and south. This is important for the future of the Azerbaijan gas industry, as well as for Europe’s energy security. » |
The country diversifies its energy supplies from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine. The EU, in turn, increased the import of gas from Azerbaijan to nearly 13 billion cubic meters in 2024 from 8 billion cubic meters in 2021.
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In 2022, Brussels signed an agreement with Baku to double the import of gas to nearly 16 billion cubic meters by 2027. Azerbaijan plans to increase gas exports to Europe to 14 billion cubic meters in the next year, the energy minister said this month.
Aliyev’s comments show that these goals can be difficult to achieve, given the challenges of providing financing for Brussels infrastructure.
All our oil or gas energy projects are funded with 70% loans and 30% corporate financing. Now the European institutions must return to this approach.
Ilham AliyevPresident of Azerbaijan
Twelve countries, including 10 in Europe, receive Azeri gas, with gasification projects in Albania and Bulgaria.
Azerbaijan supplies gas to Bulgaria through the interconnector Greece-Bulgaria. The capacity of the gas pipeline is 3 billion cubic meters a year, and it can be increased to 5 billion cubic meters.
