22 March 2007, 22:36
Azerbaijan offered EU to buy gas round about Russia
Azerbaijan has offered European Union a sort of an "energy friendship" through bypassing Russia: to purchase gas directly in Turkmenia, not from "Gazprom," and to transport it through the these-days commissioned South Caucasian gas pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) and the perspective trans-Caspian one. So far, Russia refuses to comment the case, while "Gazprom" has stated that Turkmenian gas has been bought out for 25 years into the future.
Araz Azimov, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan, who is now in Brussels on a visit, has given this sort of advice to the Old World. In his words, the purchase of gas directly from Turkmenia, not via Russia, will strengthen the EU's energy safety, the "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (Independent Newspaper) writes.
Many analysts, interrogated by the RBK Daily, think that the European Union is ready to make this decision.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and "Gazprom" refused to make any comments on the statement of the Azerbaijani diplomat.
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