Georgia refuses to purchase gas from Russia's Gazprom
Georgia refused to purchase Russian gas, choosing instead to buy from Azerbaijan. According to the 2017 forecast balance, starting from April the country will make no more purchases from Gazprom, RIA Novosti reported.
During the first three months of 2017, Georgia received 100 million cubic meters of gas from Russia, writes Novosti-Georgia. Starting from April, the government plans to fully provide the population and commercial sector with gas supplies from Azerbaijan. The deliveries will be made by Azerbaijani state company SOCAR and the consortium Shah Deniz through the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline.
According to the forecast balance of the Ministry of the Russian Federation, Georgia should receive 2.47 billion cubic meters of gas this year, 95.5% percent of which will be imported from Azerbaijan. This amounts to 2.35 billion cubic meters from that country alone.
In contrast, the amount of local gas produced this year will be around 10 million cubic meters.
In the past, Georgia used 200 million cubic meters of Russian gas every winter, received as payment for transit. This year, the terms of the contract have changed. Russia will pay hard currency for transit and the Georgian government will also have to pay cash for the acquisition of gas to cover shortfalls.
Interestingly, the government has not tried to conceal the fact that the money received from Gazprom for transit is not enough to purchase the same 10% of the amount of Russian gas passing through the country.