Mard says EU committed to Southern Gas Corridor

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

The European Union is committed to implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project, said Malena Mard on March 3.

The head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan told Trend that Europe, Azerbaijan and other partners in the project proved this once again during the SGC Advisory Council’s Third Ministerial Meeting, held in Baku this February.

The diplomat voiced hope that the Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Europe in 2020.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

Reminding that the EU has been the largest trade partner of Azerbaijan over many years and the largest investor of the country’s economy, she said that the two sides will hold in the spring a next business forum, which will be a continuation of the sides’ meeting held in May 2016.

The EU and Azerbaijan will analyze the work done, as well as the results of economic reforms carried out by the Azerbaijani state, said Mard.

The envoy, commenting on the current status of the EU-Azerbaijan negotiations on strategic partnership deal, reminded that the talks have been launched during President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Brussels on February 7.

Mard said that both sides are currently preparing for the new round of the talks.

“I think we’re rather ambitious about the preparation. The new round of talks will be held soon. We have a consensus as to developing our bilateral agreement in wider areas such as economy, migration, trade, administration, relations between people, and culture. So there are more issues to prepare for,” added the diplomat. 

Meanwhile, Mard will soon complete her tenure as the Head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan.

She is expected to leave Azerbaijan in the near future. However, the exact date is not known yet, nor is it clear who will replace her.

The Delegation told APA that Malena Mard’s tenure is four years and that she will not leave Azerbaijan by the end of the summer. The diplomat has been acting as Head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan since 2013.