Would a Eurozone collapse affect Azerbaijan?

The Eurozone debt crisis and its potential consequences need considering for the possible economic and financial risks likely to affect countries closely linked with the EU economy.

Does Azerbaijan with the energy resources Europe needs have a plan of action in case a country or several countries leave the single currency zone, or in case of the collapse of the European Union? This is not so unbelievable, at least in the opinion of authoritative experts from major international financial and geopolitical institutions.

The consortium of the Shah Deniz project, which includes the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), should determine the route by which the Azeri gas will be transported to Europe till the end of this year.

Further decisions, for example, such as where the gas will be sold depend on whether the EU remains a single entity or not. If it's via the Turkish-European border then the risks are minimal and if any European country through which Azeri gas is transited leaves the EU and wants to review its contractual terms, it will not have to sort out its relationship with Azerbaijan, but with the recipient countries. In other words, the risks of repeating the scenario of the Russian-Ukrainian gas breakdown of relations are removed.

The largest British companies such as Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, Vodafone, have a plan of action in the event of financial collapse in the Eurozone. It is standard risk management practice, which optimises further economic activity in the newly created conditions.

SOCAR should assess the possible risks and be ready to export energy resources in a situation where everything may change, beginning from the markets and currencies and ending with new ways of doing business and terms of revised prices.

Azer Ahmedbeyli /Trend/