The European Union will hold negotiations with Azerbaijan next week to discuss the possibility of increasing gas supplies to Europe through a transradriatic pipeline (TAP). This was reported on Friday to the British newspaper Financial Times with reference to the sources.
Next week, European Commissioner for Energy Cadri Simson will visit Baku, within which he will meet with the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan by Parviz Shahbazov and the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Mukhtar Babayev. “We expect negotiations on the role of Azerbaijan on the diversification of gas supplies to Europe,” the unnamed representative of the EU, the words of which leads the publication. “This includes an opportunity to increase gas supplies through a transradriatic pipeline to Europe. TAP power is currently about 10. billion cubic meters per year, [Azerbaijan] is a stable and reliable supplier in the EU. “
As the newspaper emphasized, discussions around the possible increase in the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe intensified in the light of tension in relations between the European Union and Russia due to the situation around Ukraine. Earlier, a number of Western media reported that in the case of the hypothetical invasion of the Russian Federation to Ukraine, the EU is ready to accept strict sanctions against Moscow, which may imply a refusal to the North Stream-2 gas pipeline.