Wednesday, 14 January 2009 20:53
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who is on an official visit to Baku, said today at a meeting with Juhan Parts, Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Communication, and Natig Aliyev, the Azerbaijani Minister for Energy, that the European Commission must assume the role of instigator in guaranteeing energy security, also in respect to the Nabucco gas pipeline project.
At the meeting, it was also emphasized that the success of the gas pipeline running from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to Europe, where the diversity of supply sources and channels is important, would increase energy security for the European Union.
According to Minister Aliyev, Azerbaijan currently does not see sufficient activity on the part of Europe regarding the utilization of energy resources in the Caspian region, which could significantly increase the European Union’s own supply security.
“The engine that could and would be able to start driving the solutions of these problems is the European Commission,” President Ilves said.
At the meeting, the Estonian Head of State and Minister Parts introduced the development of the oil-shale chemical industry in Estonia, focusing on possible cooperation between oil shale, gas and oil companies in the future.
President Ilves also visited the Sangachal Terminal, at the beginning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. This is the first successfully implemented oil pipeline that provides an uninterrupted flow of Azerbaijani crude oil to the consumer, the Estonian Head of State stressed.
Photos of President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Evelin Ilves’s official visit to Azerbaijan are available at the Photo Album.
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