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Ukraine and the European Union have approached Azerbaijan with a proposal to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine after the existing transit contract with Russia expires at the end of this year, Bloomberg reported, citing Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
According to him, negotiations are ongoing with the Ukrainian authorities, the European Union and Russia, and all parties seem interested in continuing supplies.
“We will help if we can, and I think there is a chance to extend this agreement,” Aliyev noted.
The transit agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation is due to expire at the end of 2024, and Russian gas supplies are expected to cease as the war continues.
Aliyev said countries such as Austria and Slovakia would face “serious problems” if Russian gas supplies through Ukraine were cut off as they would have to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars” to buy gas from other sources.
He added that Azerbaijan was trying to be “cautious” because it had been wrongly accused of re-exporting Russian gas in the past.
Aliyev said the country’s gas production should increase due to new and existing projects in the Caspian Sea.
In 2022, Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission to double its gas exports to Europe to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027. Aliyev said the country is “moving towards this goal.”
Aliyev said the supplies would come along the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, which connects Azerbaijan to Europe via Georgia and Turkey.
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