The supply of gas from the Shah Deniz field to the EU has started. Such a statement made today the Prime Minister of Georgia.

“This is a big step forward in the field of energy security. The Southern Gas Corridor will supply natural gas from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to Turkey and the European Union via Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania. It will serve 10 major buyers from 7 EU countries and Turkey.

Georgia, under the current intergovernmental and host country agreements and relevant purchase agreements, will receive gas from the South Caucasus pipeline project at discounted prices - about 2 times and much lower than the market price. An optional gas contract allows up to 5% of the volume of gas to be extracted annually. The contract is valid until 2066. The additional gas contact is valid until 2026 and Georgia, under this contract, will receive up to 500 million m3 of gas annually.

Even more important is the political effect that followed the development of the Southern Gas Corridor. If until now Georgia was only a transit country for gas of regional importance - Azerbaijani gas to Turkey and Russian gas to Armenia - now it has become an international player. From now on, the gas transported on the territory of the country will play an important role in diversifying international, mainly EU energy markets and increasing security of supply”, - said Giorgi Gakharia.

The Southern Gas Corridor consists of a project of 3 pipelines - the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion (SCPX), the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). One of the most important components of this Corridor, the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline Project (TANAP), was opened in 2019 by the Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.