Either amateurs or provocateurs can say that we buy and resell Russian gas, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during an interview with local TV channels.
“Nevertheless, these attempts to constantly denigrate Azerbaijan and belittle our role, our significance, they are not new. I remember the period when they said the same thing that Azerbaijan has no oil, that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will not be built. Then they said, that Azerbaijan does not have gas, well, now they also say. Well, let them say, we are doing our job and we are doing it successfully,” Aliyev said.
“The contract with Gazprom for the import of 1 bcm of gas was concluded at the end of last year. Why are we doing this? Yes, our consumption is growing, the population is growing, we now have those enterprises that did not work at full capacity, when there were not enough resources – this is a methanol plant, this is a carbamide plant, this is a petrochemistry,” Aliyev said.
According to him, in 2022, Azerbaijan exported 22 bcm of gas, while gas supplies to the republic from Gazprom amounted to “200-300 mcm.
Aliyev noted that in 2023 Azerbaijan plans to export gas at the level of 24 billion cubic meters, while we will receive small remaining volumes from Gazprom (700-800 mcm).
“That is, to say that we buy Russian gas and resell it, either amateurs or provocateurs can say so. In this case, we are faced with both,” the President of Azerbaijan stressed.
