Tbilisi wants to ensure the stable and uninterrupted supplies of natural gas, Georgia FM

The Goal of the Government of Georgia is to ensure the stable and uninterruptedsupplies of natural gas, which was a problem due to the increased consumption inthe country, during the last period said Georgian foreign minister Mikheil Janelidze.

To achieve this goal, Government of Georgia conducted long and open negotiations,which has brought successful results. Together with our friend and strategic partner - Azerbaijan – means of supply of additional amounts of natural gas, necessary forcovering the deficit were found, on good terms. The agreement on this was reachedand signed by the Minister for Energy of Georgia and the Azerbaijani company SOCAR, last week.

Negotiations with the company GAZPROM was conducted on the terms of the transitof natural gas from Russia to Armenia, through the Georgian owned infrastructure.This type of negotiations has been conducted every year, since 2004, as the transitcontract is annual.  At the same time, the negotiations included the possibility ofsupplies of the amounts of natural gas needed for the coverage of the deficit, in caseit was not possible through other sources.

As a result of the agreements reached with SOCAR, there is no any need for buyingadditional amounts from “GAZPROM exports”. Accordingly, agreement withGAZPROM on the continuation of transit contract on the terms existing during theprevious years was reached, which will be signed in coming days as well. Georgiawill get natural gas for the transit of gas to Armenia and no additional amounts of gaswill be purchased from GAZPROM by Georgia.

With these agreements, Government of Georgia has ensured the best possibleterms for the stable and uninterrupted supplies of gas and energy security for thecountry.