Expert Discusses Prospects of Buying Gas from Azerbaijan
Energy carriers such as gas, oil, agricultural products, and meat are strategic tools of influence. This was stated by energy security expert Vahe Davtyan in an interview with NEWS.am, as he addressed the prospects of purchasing gas from Azerbaijan.
"Around the world, we see that gas is used as a geopolitical weapon to resolve various geopolitical issues. If this entire political strategy continues, and by pushing out Russian gas, we could find ourselves in a position of absolute dependence on Azerbaijani gas. Essentially, we are placing one of our national security pillars in a position of dependency on Azerbaijan. At any given moment, Azerbaijan could halt gas supplies to Armenia," he noted.
Responding to claims that Georgia imports all its gas from Azerbaijan, Davtyan said, "Do you know that over the past three months, Georgia has imported the same volume of natural gas from Azerbaijan as it has from Russia? Russian gas is returning to the Georgian market. In fact, Russian gas is even pushing Azerbaijani gas out of Turkey. Moreover, from a commercial perspective, Russian gas is cheaper than Azerbaijani gas. Of course, Azerbaijan can engage in dumping and lower gas prices to capture the Armenian market, but are we ready to jeopardize our national security in order to embrace a consumerist approach?"