Southern Gas Corridor very important project – Ambassador Jankauskas

The Southern Gas Corridor, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, is a very important project, Kestutis Jankauskas, head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan, told reporters Nov.3.

"The Southern Gas Corridor, which is now being built and hopefully will start functioning in some years, is another symbolic and very important development connecting our markets and delivering energy resources between this region and EU," he added.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijanchr("39")s Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

Further, talking about the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, which has been recently opened, Jankauskas noted that this project is very welcome.

"EU in general supports all kinds of interconnections. Roads connect people. This is important for enhancement of the relationship, for trade, for people traveling, for cargoes being transported between our market, Azerbaijan, South Caucasus countries, EU, Turkey and then reaching further to Central Asia and China, being transported faster and being transported safely. This railway exactly helps to achieve this goal," he said.

The opening of the BTK railway took place in Baku Oct.30.