PROJECT REVIVAL

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's official visit to Bulgaria last week, coincided with the 20th anniversary of the signing by the [former] presidents of the two countries, Heydar Aliyev, and Zhelyu Zhelev, of an agreement on bilateral friendly relations and cooperation. The marking of such a significant event in the history of the two countries created a favourable backdrop, and the ensuing productive talks showed that the visit was really well-timed.

During the talks Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Rosen Plevneliev noted that splendid opportunities existed in a whole range of directions. In the economic sphere the sides are studying the business investment opportunities, and Azerbaijani companies are extremely eager to make investments in Bulgaria. At the same time, Azerbaijan would like to see Bulgarian companies as investors and as stake-holders involved in infrastructure projects in the republic.

Incidentally speaking, the infrastructure projects, are, as admitted by the sides, one of the most promising directions in bilateral cooperation. The leaders of the two countries stated that there were splendid opportunities in the transport sphere. President Aliyev invited the Bulgarian side to join in creating an extensive transport network, in which Azerbaijan has been involved for many years now. In particular, this applies to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars mainline railway project, which would link Europe up with Asia and is expected to be commissioned this year.

On the whole, the leaders of the two countries discussed a broad spectrum of bilateral and regional cooperation. Moreover, the main topic discussed at the Azerbaijani-Bulgarian summit was energy policy, as expected, and first and foremost the realisation of the Southern Gas Corridor. We would like to note that the Azerbaijani president's visit to Sofia ended with the Bulgarian people celebrating another important date, Liberation Day, on 3 March. The fact that President Aliyev's visit coincided with Liberation Day also has its own symbolism.

This consists in the fact that in Sofia they are placing great hopes in Azerbaijan as an important new partner in the European Union to boost the continent's energy security. With regard to this, Azerbaijan regards Bulgaria as a country that it will make it possible to become free of energy dependence. President Rosen Plevneliev said that the successful realisation of the "Southern Gas Corridor", in which Azerbaijan is playing a key role, will put an end to Bulgaria's many-year-long dependence on a single pipeline and a single provider. On the basis of energy cooperation between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan, an agreement has already been signed on annual supplies of 1bn cu m of gas, as well as the possibility of discussing additional supplies. "But we can try and get even better results. We are interested in studying the possibility of carrying out joint projects with Azerbaijan in supplying gas to homes, building gas storage facilities and a gas pipeline infrastructure in Bulgaria and in the region of South-eastern Europe," the president stressed.

In Bulgaria they are showing genuine interest in the "Southern Gas Corridor" project. This country was represented on a high level at the ceremony to mark the laying of the project's foundation stone in Baku in September last year. In February this year, once again in Baku, the Bulgarian energy minister attended a joint consultative council of the ministers of the countries through which the gas corridor is to be laid. At the talks, Ilham Aliyev expressed the hope that Bulgaria, which is a party to this project and an Azerbaijani gas consumer country, will play its own part in the future as a transit country transporting gas to other countries. "So, today a period of long-term strategic partnership is essentially beginning between our countries," Azerbaijan's head of state stressed.

Besides this, it was learned at the talks in Sofia that the parties are seriously thinking about reviving the Nabucco pipeline project, which appeared to be allowed to sink into oblivion two years ago, once preference had been given to the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) as part of the main "Southern Gas Corridor" pipeline. Bulgaria had always been in favour of the Nabucco pipeline project, plus the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of Russia's withdrawal from constructing the Southern Flow pipeline in December last year took Bulgaria unawares; the Southern Flow pipeline was to have supplied Bulgarian consumers with gas.

In winding up the talks with Ilham Aliyev, Bulgarian Prime Minister Bojko Borisov stated that Sofia attaches great significance to the revival of the Nabucco pipeline project and will join the Azerbaijani side once again in bringing this package of proposals to the attention of the officials in the European Union, "to guard against them hindering Bulgaria with regard to this issue". "We should by no means be busy defending the interests of the European Commission. For many years now we have invested major sums in the development of these projects and have applied great efforts with regard to them. The fact is that the Azerbaijani side may acquire shares in this project. This also means additional profit for us, for Bulgaria. I feel sure that there will not be any impediments to this and the European Commission is completely in support of us on this issue," the prime minister noted.

B. Borisov assured the Azerbai-jani president that at the talks the Bulgarian government will definitely speak out in support of this cooperation and will attempt to achieve the development and realisation of this issue which is directly linked with the "Southern Gas Corridor".

In his turn, I. Aliyev gave it to be understood that, no matter what the project is called, Nabucco or something else, the pipeline of the Southern Gas Corridor is just a pipeline that starts in Baku and ends in Italy, but a pipeline that can have several branches, and one going towards the Balkans is a promising one. In this connection, Azerbaijan is purposefully and consistently pursuing its policy of exporting energy resources to the European market, and the countries of the [Balkan] peninsula have already signed a memorandum on the relevant cooperation. At the same time, a pipeline is being laid from Bulgaria to neighbouring Romania and Hungary.

 "Today we are planning to combine the TAP and Nabucco pipeline projects in some way. It is not a question of what these projects are called. The main issue and our desire is that Azerbaijan can transport maximum volumes of its gas to the European space and that the maximum number of European countries can have access to this gas," I. Aliyev said. 

Azerbaijan's president promised that the republic had sufficient gas for all consumers, since the sources of it are not only the "Shah Deniz" [Sah Daniz] gas field, but also the "Absheron" and "Umid" gas fields, which can provide at least an additional volume of 5bn-6bn cu m of gas in the next five to six years.

Thus, Azerbaijan has undertaken yet another important step in realising its energy policy, and Bulgaria has gained a strategic ally in resolving its main problem, namely energy dependence. The fact that the relations between the two countries have risen to a strategic partnership level is evidenced by the signing of the joint declaration of strategic partnership at the end of the talks. Another outcome of the talks was the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of digital communications, information technologies and internet management and a protocol on expanding cooperation in the field of tourism. It must be said that the declaration is also valuable to Baku, since Bulgaria confirmed in it the need to settle the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict within the framework of territorial integrity, sovereignty and the inviolability of Azerbaijan's borders.

In this context, we would like to mention the reluctance of the European Union to deal with the problem of violation of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity as definitely and categorically as is being done in tackling similar problems in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. Official Baku has repeatedly reproached the European Union for mainly building its relations with Azerbaijan on the basis of energy policy and not wishing to extend active cooperation to other important fields, including what is for the republic the all-important sphere of security. Acknowledging that there is little hope of convincing the EU leadership in Brussels, Azerbaijan has resorted to a more effective means - using its trump card as a supplier [of gas] in cementing its strategic partnerships with individual countries in the European Union. I. Aliyev said, after he had signed the relevant document with his Bulgarian colleague, that Azerbaijan had already concluded joint declarations on strategic partnership with a family of European Union member countries. "I think that today the prospects for ties between the European Union and Azerbaijan have been defined. I would like these contacts to be raised to the level of strategic partnership," Azerbaijan's leader noted.

AT FIRST HAND

"Today we are planning to combine the TAP and Nabucco pipeline projects in some way. It is not a question of what these projects are called. The main issue and our desire is that Azerbaijan can transport maximum volumes of its gas to the European space and that the maximum number of European countries can have access to this gas," Ilham Aliyev said.

 "I think that today the prospects for ties between the European Union and Azerbaijan have been defined. I would like these contacts to be raised to the level of strategic partnership," Azerbaijan's leader noted.