Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan will use opportunities in Romania to export gas to other European markets

By signing a new contract between Romgaz and Socar for the delivery of natural gas, all opportunities in Romania will be used to export Azerbaijani gas to other European markets, on Thursday said Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev.

We are stepping into a new phase. Last month, in Bucharest, an agreement was signed to deliver the Azerbaijani gas to Romania. We will address other European markets through you and we will use all these opportunities from Romania to export gas from Azerbaijan and beyond, said the Azerbaijani president, after meeting with the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, who announced that on Friday a new contract will be signed between Romgaz and Socar for the delivery of Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania for the period April 1, 2023 - April 1, 2024.

The president of Azerbaijan recalled that the last segment of the Southern Gas Corridor was put into operation two years ago and that last year the Strategic Partnership with the EU on gas was signed.

We will increase the export volumes, this is our priority, the Azerbaijani president said.

He stressed the importance of green energy and reiterated that the Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council will take place on Friday.

Noting that the ports of Baku and Constanta are important, Ilham Aliyev stressed: Let's improve cooperation between these two locations.

The Azerbaijani president pointed out that the political dialogue between Romania and Azerbaijan is very dynamic.

As far as the economy is concerned, the trade is showing the results, the volume has doubled, but it is not at the volume we want it yet, because most of our trade is represented by oil and then we have to diversify these volumes, to make the next steps. (...) In the economic sphere we have again very good results and we can have even better results in the field of energy, which is a key element not only for the Romanian-Azerbaijani relationship, but is currently on the global agenda, Ilham Aliyev said.

President Klaus Iohannis is on his first official visit to Azerbaijan on Thursday and Friday, at the invitation of president Ilham Aliyev. On Friday, the president of Romania will open, together with his Azerbaijani counterpart, the Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, which will also be attended by the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. On the same day, president Iohannis will lay a wreath at the Heroes Monument in Baku.