SOCAR to supply free gas to Georgia's religious facilities
By Nazrin Gadimova
Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR will supply gas to the religious facilities of Georgia free of charge within a year beginning from this November.
The company reported that an appropriate memorandum was signed during a meeting of SOCAR Head Rovnag Abdullayev and Georgian Patriarch, Catholicos Ilia II on October 19.
"Georgian Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze asked SOCAR to find ways to supply gas to the religious organizations of Georgia at a discounted price," Abdullayev said. "We renegotiated the terms and made a decision on gas supply to all religious facilities in Georgia free of charge within a year upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's instruction."
Earlier, SOCAR said that President Aliyev also ordered to supply natural gas for the heating systems of all the mosques and churches and other religious facilities in Azerbaijan free of charge.
SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.
The company, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, owns gas stations in Azerbaijan, Switzerland, Georgia and Ukraine. It has representative offices in Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Britain, Iran, Germany and Ukraine, and trading companies in Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Nigeria, and other countries.