Leaders Agree on Energy Cooperation

The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine signed a joint declaration on May 11 at a summit in Krakow calling for increased cooperation in transporting oil and gas from Central Asia to Europe via the South Caucasus.

Kazakhstan also signed the declaration, but was represented at the energy summit in Poland by its deputy energy minister.

?We are launching a route, which will be parallel to the one which already exists ? Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan -, which is very important. This new route will also have huge strategic importance. Although no one expected it, although there were obstacles, although a parallel summit was even held, a major agreement has anyway been reached here [at the Krakow summit],? President Mikheil Saakashvili told Georgian reporters.

Saakashvili?s remarks on a ?parallel summit? refer to a meeting in Turkmenistan between the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

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