PM to Visit Turkey, Azerbaijan

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli will hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Energy Minister Hilmi Guler in Istanbul on November 23, the Georgian PM?s press office reported.

The talks will take place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on November 23-24.

The visit is important in light of Georgia?s efforts to purchase more cheap Shah-Deniz gas than is currently envisaged by the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline (SCP) contract. The SCP will transport gas from Azerbaijan?s Shah-Deniz field to Turkey via Georgia starting from December, 2006.

PM Zurab Nogaideli, accompanied by Energy Minister Nika Gilauri, is expected to travel to Baku on November 30 to discuss the issue with the Azeri authorities.

Russian energy giant Gazprom said it will increase the gas price for Georgia from the current USD 110 to USD 230 per 1000 cubic meters starting from January, 2007.

Georgia is expected to receive 200 million cubic meters of gas as a transit fee, plus 50 million cubic meters at a reduced price ? USD 55 per 1000 cubic meters – from the SCP next year. Because of the inflated Gazprom prices, Georgia is hoping to purchase more than its alloted 50 million cubic meters of cheap gas from the SCP.

But Turkish and Azeri media sources recently speculated that Azerbaijan will not be able to supply Georgia with additional gas because Baku itself may face a shortage of energy in 2007.

Azerbaijani news agency Trend reported quoting Rovnag Abdulayev, President of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), that Russia plans to reduce the gas supply to Azerbaijan to 1,5 billion cubic meters.

Georgian Energy Minister Nika Gilauri told reporters on November 22 that Tbilisi is in intensive talks with Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran over gas supplies and details will be unveiled only after negotiations are over.

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