Upon the question by a press member during his visit to Sakarya as to whether Russia is trying to block the Shahdeniz Project that enables the delivery of cheap Azeri gas to Turkey, Guler said that the project was maintained successfully and was not blocked by Russia. The Minister added that the first natural gas would be bought at the end of the year upon the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline currently under construction.

Stressing that Shahdeniz was the second biggest project after Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline, Minister Guler said that part of the gas to be received under the project would be utilized by Turkey and part would be delivered in the future to Greece and Italy. Guler said, "We have a contract with Azerbaijan concerning the natural gas project. Shahdeniz Project is a giant project and one that the government has been pursuing successfully. Botash has been undertaking this project in a solid manner. We have brought the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project online in June. It generates big revenues. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project is an oil pipeline project and Shahdeniz Project is its twin natural gas project. Both are pipeline projects that transmit the oil and the natural gas of the Caspian region individually. We have completed the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project successfully and now we are completing the Shahdeniz Project. Another name for Shahdeniz Project is Baku-Tbilisi- Erzurum Project. We will bring the gas all the way down to Erzurum. We will be receiving the first gas from the pipeline by the end of the year. There are no problems concerning the pipelines. Georgia and Azerbaijan are asking for gas. The negotiations are underway and the project is running successfully. We will use part of the gas and deliver part to Greece and then to Italy later. The amount of gas to be delivered to Greece and Italy in the future is 12 billion cubic meters, 3 billion to Greece and the rest to Italy. Russia is not blocking the gas purchase. These are international projects based on agreements with fixed terms and conditions. There is no concern of the sort." EkoTurk

/The New Anatolian/