Azerbaijan seeks to replace Russia as EU’s gas supplier via Ukraine

Azerbaijan has proposed supplying natural gas to Europe via Ukraine’s gas transit system, Bloomberg reports. Currently, Russian gas is transported through Ukraine to other European countries under a transit agreement that expires in 2024. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the proposal to replace Russian gas with Azerbaijani gas is one of the options currently being discussed. Kyiv aims to maintain its role as a transit country and help ensure the energy security of its western neighbors.

Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing with the Ukrainian government, the European Union, and Russia. Journalists note that all parties appear interested in continuing the gas supplies. “We will help if we can,” said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. I think it’s possible to prolong this deal.”

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European countries are trying to move away from Russian gas. However, some countries still receive the resources through pipelines that cross Ukraine. Aliyev believes that countries such as Austria and Slovakia will face “serious trouble” if Russian gas supplies through Ukraine are halted. In such a case, they would have to pay “hundreds and hundreds of millions” to purchase gas from other countries.

President Aliyev noted that production from new and existing Caspian Sea fields will increase to meet European demand. In 2022, Baku signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission to double gas exports to Europe to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027. The country is “moving toward” this goal, says Aliyev.

This year, exports from Azerbaijan to Europe will rise to nearly 13 billion cubic meters, up from 11.8 billion cubic meters in 2023 and 8 billion cubic meters in 2021. The supplies will be transported via the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, which connects Azerbaijan to Europe through Georgia and Türkiye, said Aliyev.