President Klaus Iohannis stated that he agreed with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, to develop bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, trade, transport, investments, digitization, agriculture, education and culture and announced that the companies Romgaz and Socar will sign on Friday a new contract for the delivery of Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania for the period April 1, 2023 – April 1, 2024, according to Agerpres.
„Today, we reiterated Romania’s openness and interest in deepening the Strategic Partnership between our countries, as well as in the development of strategic projects with regional impact. We agreed to support the development of bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, trade, transport, investments, digitization, agriculture and very importantly, education and culture. I thanked Mr. President Ilham Aliyev for the start by Azerbaijan of the export of additional gas to Romania, from January 1, 2023. I am also glad that tomorrow the signing by the two companies – Romgaz and Socar – of a new contract for the period April 1, 2023 – April 1, 2024 will take place,” the head of state said on Thursday after the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart.
He emphasized that both the Southern Gas Corridor and the future submarine cable for transporting electricity produced in Azerbaijan from renewable sources, projects supported by the European Commission as well, will contribute significantly to ensuring the energy security of the European Union.
The two presidents also agreed on the further development of other projects with regional impact, such as those in the digital field.
„Romania and Azerbaijan will continue to work to expand cooperation and strategic initiatives between Europe, the South Caucasus, but also Central Asia. As we discussed in Bucharest, the two countries ensure and will develop the link between Europe and the South Caucasus,” said President Iohannis.
According to the head of the Romanian state, the South Caucasus is a region of strategic importance for Romania and the European Union. He recalled that Azerbaijan is the first country in the South Caucasus region with which Romania raised relations to the level of Strategic Partnership, in 2009.
„In addition, our country is the first member state of the European Union to conclude such a partnership with Azerbaijan. (…) Romania and Azerbaijan have excellent political-diplomatic relations, developed over three decades. The year 2022 marked a strong dynamism of contacts, culminating with the visit of Mr. President Ilham Aliyev to Bucharest, on the occasion of the signing of the Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary regarding the Strategic Partnership in the field of development and transport of green energy, on December 17,” Iohannis also said.
The two officials also discussed the impact of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Black Sea region.
„In this complicated context, I highlighted that solidarity becomes even more important and I appreciated Azerbaijan’s conduct regarding regional energy security. Thus, regional cooperation and the diversification of sources and transport routes are also key principles underlying projects such as the Southern Gas Corridor. We count on reliable partners like Azerbaijan for the advancement of such solutions,” added president Iohannis.
He emphasized that Romania is a sincere and honest friend of Azerbaijan.
„Romania has a clear position, based on the principles of international law, including the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states recognized by the UN,” the head of state also affirmed.
President Klaus Iohannis is paying on Thursday and Friday his first official visit to Azerbaijan, at the invitation of president Ilham Aliyev.
On Friday, the President of Romania will open, together with his Azerbaijani counterpart, the Ministerial Meeting of the Consultative Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, in which the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, will also participate. On the same day, President Iohannis will lay a wreath at the Monument of Heroes in Baku.
On December 16, 2022, the Romgaz National Natural Gas Company and Socar Trading, the subsidiary of the national oil company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, signed the first individual contract for the delivery of Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania. The individual contract allows planned deliveries of natural gas starting from January 1, through the Southern Corridor, using the transport capacities of the TAP, IGB pipelines, as well as the transport systems of Bulgaria and Romania.
Agerpres
