Georgia Today: Gazprom Deal - National Security Threat for Georgia?

On October 17, Journal Tabula announced a protest action against Gazprom’s possible entrance into the Georgian energy market. Russia’s energy giant is believed to be attempting to re-enter Georgia and is said by some to be a non-trivial tool for the Russian government to manage political processes on the ground.

Gazprom representatives reportedly claimed that meetings between the Georgian side and the company are held on a regular basis and a new meeting is planned for the near future. They added that the main topics to be discussed at the future meeting will become clear later.

While Kakha Kaladze, Georgian Energy Minister, says he held talks with Gazprom about the transit of natural gas through Georgia, as well as the import of Russian natural gas for commercial operators, it has become apparent that talks between the Russian company and the Energy Minister are underway regarding supply of natural gas to Georgia as well as increasing the volume of Russian gas supply to Armenia via Georgia.

The news came as a surprise for Azerbaijan, currently the major supplier of oil and gas resources to Georgia, who immediately invited the Georgian Prime Minister to Baku to meet the Azerbaijani President on October 10th.

Read the full article HERE.