Azerbaijan-Georgia energy bridge: 20-year deal to boost South Caucasus integration

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The South Caucasus occupies a strategically important position at the crossroads of major energy and transport routes. Oil and gas pipelines, railways and electricity transmission lines connect the region to global energy and trade networks. This infrastructure shapes not only economic development but also interstate relations and the overall level of regional stability.

Against this backdrop, particular significance attaches to the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of Georgia on the Supply of Electricity to Georgia and the Transit of Electricity through the Territory of Georgia. The agreement was signed in Baku on 18 May and approved by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a decree issued on 9 July.

The 20-year agreement regulates the direct export of Azerbaijani electricity to Georgia and its transit through Georgian territory, including onward to Turkey. It complements the two countries’ existing cooperation in the oil, gas and railway sectors and forms an important part of their broader energy and transport partnership. The agreement has the potential not only to strengthen energy security in the South Caucasus but also to create a new mechanism for regional integration.

The agreement provides for stable electricity supplies from Azerbaijan to Georgia, as well as the transit of Azerbaijani electricity through Georgian territory to third countries, primarily Turkey. While the necessary infrastructure, including the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey (AGT) Power Bridge, is already operational, the new agreement places this cooperation on a long-term legal footing and creates conditions for increasing electricity flows.

Source: Wikipedia