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Adjara, important region for SOCAR

22 May 2015 16:03 (UTC+04:00)
Adjara, important region for SOCAR

By Aynur Karimova

Adjara Autonomous Republic of Georgia is a strategically important region for Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, said Mahir Mammadov, SOCAR Energy Georgia Director General.

Commenting on the opening of the SOCAR office in the Georgian Batumi city on May 18, Mammadov said there are several reasons behind this step.

"First, Adjara is an autonomous republic of Georgia; it means that it has a special status. There is an Azerbaijani consulate here as well. Second, the history of the Azerbaijani oil is inseparably linked with Batumi. The first pipelines and oil shipment were carried out here. Third, this rapidly growing region shares a border with Turkey. Neighboring countries are seeking to strengthen their presence here and Azerbaijan should not stay away from these processes. It is no coincidence that the office was opened at one of the central streets of Batumi, on the first Boulevard line, which is called Baku,” he told Trend Agency on May 22.

One of the important reasons is that SOCAR started the gasification of this region, when there almost was no gas.

"As of today, SOCAR has about 47,000 active consumers, and we plan to increase this figure to 55,000-56,000 by the end of the year. Of course, the gasification program will not be completed with this. It should be considered that Adjara is largely a mountainous region. Given this fact we are now actually close to the maximum number of consumers throughout the Adjara," Mammadov added.

Azerbaijan’s energy giant SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

Three production divisions, two oil refineries and one gas processing plant, an oil tanker fleet, a deep water platform fabrication yard, two trusts, one institution, and 22 subdivisions are operating as corporate entities under SOCAR.

SOCAR manages dozens of gas distribution networks in Georgia. It controls about 25 percent of the retail market of oil products in Georgia. Today, SOCAR provides 90 percent of Georgia's gas supply.

SOCAR Georgia Gas, a daughter of SOCAR Energy Georgia established in August 2007, is aimed at taking part in the Georgian natural gas market. Its main activities are supplying natural gas.

The company supplies gas to social and commercial users. It also plans to construct new gas pipelines and rehabilitate existing ones in the populated areas of various regions of Georgia.

Since 2009, SOCAR Georgia Gas has already constructed 5,500 kilometers of gas networks throughout the country and provided about 194,000 subscribers with gas.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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