The project company for construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which envisages Azerbaijani gas supply to Bulgaria, has started the testing of infrastructure along the pipeline’s route, the ICGB AD company stated.
Europe will not be able to completely abandon Russian gas, but it needs to look for alternatives to supplies from Gazprom, Trend reports citing “The Economist”.
While supporting Azerbaijan’s sustainable and inclusive economic recovery, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is confident that a new private sector led growth model can help the country diversify its economy and spur job creation by prioritizing the non-oil sectors, Ivana Fernandes Duarte, IFC’s Regional Manager for the South Caucasus stated.
Since the start of the year, wholesale gas prices in Europe have risen by 250 percent. The record-high prices in Europe are driven by increased demand (due to the wider economic recovery and weather-related factors), competition with Asia for LNG, and a limited supply response from Gazprom, Europe’s largest supplier, providing about a third of Europe’s gas. The current gas supply crunch in Europe once again showed the importance of diversification of gas supply routes and sources.
“I congratulate everyone on the commencement of gas supply from the Shah Deniz field to the European Union through the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline system,” said Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, reports 1tv.ge .
According to her, the project is crucial for strengthening Georgia’s energy independence.
The United States Government has strongly supported the Southern Gas Corridor for more than a decade because of the contribution it will make to European energy security and to the political and economic integration of the Caspian region with the West, Nathan Reich, Energy Diplomacy Officer, Bureau of Energy Resources, US Department of State (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-reich-a102a615/ ), told Trend.
The Bulgarian Council of Ministers has approved draft bilateral agreements on the regulation of labour migration between the government of Bulgaria and the governments of Albania and Turkmenistan, Trend.az reports.
Projects will become the basis for negotiations on issues related to the regulation of the citizens’ employment of these countries in Bulgaria, the report said with reference to the press service of the Government of Bulgaria.
In 2019, Turkmenistan has entered the list of Uzbekistan's top ten foreign trade partners, “Trend.az” reported, citing the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.
From January to November 2019, total trade between the two neighboring countries reached US $ 457.8 million. For comparison, the previous year's turnover was $ 243.9 million.
Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a seminar on the role of the private sector in agriculture and the food sector has started in Baku, “Trend.az” reports.
The seminar is organized with the support of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası Sahibkarlar (İşəgötürənlər) Təşkilatları Milli Konfederasiyası - ASK) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
