Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis is participating today, along with his Azerbaijani counterpart, in the official opening of the 9th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Baku, where also attending will be European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, according to Agerpres.

The Romanian retinue in Baku also includes Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Energy Ministr Virgil Popescu, Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Eduard Hellvig, as well as presidential advisors Cosmin Marinescu, Luminita Odobescu, Daniela Barsan, and Delia Dinu.

Also today, according to the official schedule, Iohannis will lay a wreath at the monument on Martyr’s Lane in Baku.

Iohannis’ official visit to Azerbaijan began on Thursday, at the invitation of his counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

After a conversation with Aliyev, Iohannis said that on Friday the signing of a new contract for the delivery of Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania April 1, 2023 – April 1, 2024 will take place by the companies Romgaz and Socar.

He emphasised that both the Southern Gas Corridor and the future submarine cable for the transmission of electricity produced in Azerbaijan from renewable sources, both projects supported by the European Commission as well, will contribute significantly to ensuring the energy security of the European Union.

In his turn, Aliyev said that by signing a new contract between Romgaz and Socar for the delivery of natural gas, all opportunities in Romania will be used to export Azerbaijani gas to other European markets.

We are entering a new phase; in Bucharest last month, an agreement was signed to deliver Azeri gas to Romania. We will also address other European markets through you and we will use all these opportunities from Romania to export gas from Azerbaijan far beyond, Aliyev said after meeting Iohannis.

Agerpres