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The European Commission signed an agreement with Azerbaijan on Monday, July 18, to double natural gas imports to at least 20 billion cubic meters per year by 2027.
On a visit to Baku, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen signed with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev a memorandum on “a strategic partnership in the field of energy”.
“Today, with this memorandum, we are opening a new chapter in our energy cooperation with Azerbaijan, a key partner in our efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels,” von der Leyen said.
The EU is looking for alternative suppliers to Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Azerbaijan is already increasing natural gas deliveries to the EU from 8.1 billion cubic meters in 2021 to 12 billion cubic meters in 2022, the European Commission announced.
Von der Leyen said that Russian gas supplies to Europe were “unreliable” even before the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine and that the EU was turning to “more reliable suppliers”.
Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev praised the agreement, saying that EU-Azerbaijan energy cooperation has “already changed the energy map of Europe”.
In May, EU leaders agreed to freeze most Russian oil imports until the end of the year as part of unprecedented sanctions they imposed on Moscow over its military action in Ukraine.
Russia has already started reducing its gas supplies to prevent EU countries from replenishing reserves, prompting the European Commission to prepare “a plan to reduce gas demand” to cope with the coming winter.
Under the agreement, Azerbaijan will also use its huge potential in renewable energy — such as offshore wind and green hydrogen — to move away from its role as a supplier of fossil fuels.
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