Turkey, together with Azerbaijan expects to supply gas to European countries, Fatih Donmez, the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said in an interview with CNN Turk.
The Minister said that Azerbaijan invests a lot of money in Turkey. In particular, the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR is also one of the largest investors in the Republic of Turkey. According to Donmez, Azerbaijani-Turkish cooperation will also begin in a third country.
“There will be new types of cooperation. BOTAŞ and SOCAR (state-owned companies of Turkey and Azerbaijan) have created a new company. We will supply gas to Europe. We have declared that we will become a gas trading center,” the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources said.
According to Donmez, the Balkan countries rely on the gas of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
In the same interview, Donmez said that the Turkish parliament has begun to amend the legislation necessary to start the work of the international gas trade center, a gas hub.
It should be noted that SOCAR has not made any public statements about the creation of a joint company in Turkey for the purpose of gas supplies to Europe.
Azerbaijan sells its gas on foreign markets through AGSC (Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company), where SOCAR is the operator.
AGSC was established in 2002 (registered in the Cayman Islands of the USA) by the partners of the “Shah Deniz” project and the Azerbaijani state (SOCAR joins on behalf of the state) as a special mechanism for the sale of gas volumes.
This company is completely closed. It does not publish any reports about its activities, does not issue press releases, and there is no information about the company’s management and contact details of the company on its website. Although it is known that since May 1, 2015, Lidiya Salakhova, a representative of the State Oil Company will head the company.
Caspian Barrel
