Saakashvili in Sofia for Energy Summit
President Saakashvili left for Sofia on April 24 to participate in an energy summit, which will discuss projects that aim to guarantee secure gas deliveries to Europe.
“It seems that gradually we are succeeding with serious projects,” Saakashvili said in the Tbilisi airport before departure. “In short-term these projects mean that large constructions will launch in Georgia, it means that new working places will be created and for a long-term period, it means much more security, much more political, economic and energy security and increase of our importance for Europe. We have quitted the CIS, but we should be somewhere. While integrating into Europe and Central Asia’s economic space, energy will be decisive. As far as political space is concerned, on May 7 we will sign Eastern Partnership initiative in Prague [with EU]. For the first time, we will establish institutional relations with the European Union and here also energy plays a key role. So, our new geopolitical strategy is being established gradually that means Georgia’s multi-vector direction both in the Euro-Atlantic direction and in the direction of all our neighbors.”
"After August many things have become complicated for us but generally, rearrangement of geopolitical order is underway and therefore, the summits similar to that which is taking place in Sofia now, are also very important. So, I hope that we will have concrete results and our citizens will feel them in terms of improving their lives."
A separate energy business forum on the sidelines of the summit in Sofia will bring together representatives of leading energy companies like Russia’s Gazprom, Germany’s RWE, France’s GDF Suez, the National Iranian Oil Company, Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and Qatargas. They will share views on the construction of both the EU-backed 3,300 kilometer Nabucco pipeline that bypasses Russia via Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and the Balkans to central Europe, and the Moscow-backed South Stream pipeline, The Associated Press reported.
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