Georgian leader offers to diversify supplies by Kazakh and Turkmen gas
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili welcomed the efforts of the government in the diversification of the country's non-Russian gas supply in an interview with Georgian TV channels on Tuesday.
The Georgian president is participating in the first South Caucasus Forum, which is taking place in Baku.
"We receive part of our gas from Russia in the form of payment for the transit of Russian gas to Armenia anyway. We need to seek new fuel opportunities through negotiations with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Talking about dependence on Azerbaijan is ridiculous," he said.
Saakashvili reiterated that Georgia, like no one in Europe, managed to secure its energy security with the help of Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan is our strategic partner and it has begun to provide gas to Georgia at discounted prices during difficult times. Do not forget that Azerbaijani gas is cheap. Azerbaijan is also interested in free and independent Georgia," he said.
He said that Russia has repeatedly put Georgia in a very difficult situation in the winter, when the Georgian population was left without fuel and heat due to explosions on the gas pipeline in Russia.
"Therefore, all of these conversations are conducted with one aim - to bring us back into Russia's orbit and deprive us of our freedom, which is unacceptable," the president said.
Kakha Kaladze, in an interview with the Georgian edition of Versiya, did not rule out the possibility of starting negotiations with Russia to diversify Georgian gas supplies. To date, the main supplier of gas to Georgia is Azerbaijan, which delivers it at reduced rates.