Negotiations on gas imports between Georgia and Russia

Economy and Sustainable Development Minister of Georgia, Georgy Kobuliya, said last week that Georgia does not rule out the opportunity of buying natural gas from Russia.

Negotiations are held for the purpose of improving transit conditions and making procurements of Russian gas possible to keep the energy security and energy independence of Georgia, according to Kobuliya.

Georgian energy expert, Timur Gochitashvili, told “Kommersant that the Republic annually consumes 2.4−2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and this volume is almost 100% ensured with supplies from Azerbaijan. According to the agreements reached in the 1990s, Georgia purchases parts of the gas that is transited through its territory to Europe at a discounted price.

Some experts suggest that the negotiations have an honest desire to reduce the dependence on one supplier in the face of possible gas shortages in Azerbaijan “In itself the negotiations are not bad. Competition is always healthy and a useful phenomenon”, — said the economist Georgy Khukhashvili, who worked as the assistant to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, between 2012-2013.

He sees the main risk in the fact that Gazprom may try to seduce the Georgian government with low prices. The inability to resist the temptation “will lead to the fact that Georgia will be trapped in Russia”, said Khukhashvili.

The statement of the Georgian Minister of economy about the negotiations with the Russian company “Gazprom” has also drawn similar criticism from the opposition. The opposition has warned the ruling party “Georgian dream”: an attempt to reduce its dependence on Baku may lead to the “enslavement of the country by Russia”.

SOCAR Georgia Gas, a subsidiary of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR, will increase gas prices for retail commercial consumers to 95 tetri per cubic meter from March 1, 2019, according to Trend reports.

"The reason is the change in the rate of the Georgian national currency against the US dollar and the distribution tariff," the company said.

So far, SOCAR has invested more than $300 million in the process of providing the regions with gas and the development of gas infrastructure in Georgia.

Sources: 

1. http://tass.com/economy/1044513

2. https://rusreality.com/2019/02/15/georgias-opposition-fears-of-a-russian-trap/

3. https://www.azernews.az/oil_and_gas/144841.html