Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has announced that neighboring Azerbaijan will be his country's main supplier of natural gas, but that he would still like to keep Russia as a supplier to ensure diversity.
About one third of Georgia's gas is already on its way from Azerbaijan, and by February-March, about 80% will be coming from that country, Saakashvili told Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio station.
He said, "It is not good to have just one channel, even if it is a very friendly one, as there may be many technical and other" problems. As a result, he said, "we would like to keep the Russian channel" but that it is "hard to predict, and prices there are completely crazy."
Azerbaijan's Azarigaz began exporting gas Jan. 11 along the Haciqabul-Qazax-Tbilisi trunk line to Georgia, which is seeking to reduce its dependence on increasingly expensive Russian supplies (OGJ Online, Jan. 11, 2007).
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
