SEPT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Japan has signed a deal to help build local infrastructure projects in Azerbaijan such as improving basic drinking water access in villages, media reported. This may show that Japan is trying to increase its participation in the South Caucasus.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Spanish natural gas provider Enagas bought a 16% stake in the TAP pipeline that will pump gas from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to central Europe.
The purchase of the shares, a 10% stake from France’s Total and a 6% stake from Germany’s E.ON underline how important European countries consider the project to be.
Belgium’s Fluxys also increased its stake to 19%. The other shareholders in TAP are BP, Norway’s Statoil and Azerbaijani energy company SOCAR all with 20% of the project. Swiss energy company Axpo also owns 5% of TAP.
Reuters quoted Kjetil Tungland, TAP’s managing director.
“The TAP joint venture has always been open to new strategic partners,” he said.
“Enagas … will help to enhance TAP’s strategic position as a truly European project that will transport a new source of gas to the continent’s energy markets.”
The pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2018. European countries consider it an essential piece of infrastructure development to diversify their gas deliveries away from Russia, through which most of its gas was being delivered.
The plan is for TAP to run 870km from the Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea to the Turkey-Greece border. There it will connected to another pipeline called TANAP which will pump the gas through the Balkans and across to Italy. From Italy the gas can be re-distributed across Europe.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Spanish natural gas provider Enagas bought a 16% stake in the TAP pipeline that will pump gas from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to central Europe.
The purchase of the shares, a 10% stake from France’s Total and a 6% stake from Germany’s E.ON underline how important European countries consider the project to be.
Belgium’s Fluxys also increased its stake to 19%. The other shareholders in TAP are BP, Norway’s Statoil and Azerbaijani energy company SOCAR all with 20% of the project. Swiss energy company Axpo also owns 5% of TAP.
Reuters quoted Kjetil Tungland, TAP’s managing director.
“The TAP joint venture has always been open to new strategic partners,” he said.
“Enagas … will help to enhance TAP’s strategic position as a truly European project that will transport a new source of gas to the continent’s energy markets.”
The pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2018. European countries consider it an essential piece of infrastructure development to diversify their gas deliveries away from Russia, through which most of its gas was being delivered.
The plan is for TAP to run 870km from the Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea to the Turkey-Greece border. There it will connected to another pipeline called TANAP which will pump the gas through the Balkans and across to Italy. From Italy the gas can be re-distributed across Europe.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Ashgabat, the head of the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev met with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, media reported. The visit was rare for a senior Azerbaijani official and, perhaps, indicates the improved relations between the two Caspian Sea states.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Attending a meeting of the heads of the five Caspian Sea littoral stares, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called on the military balance around the sea to be balanced, media reported. The Caspian Sea has been the focus of heated arguments over ownership.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)
SEPT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – French energy company Total will start oil production at its Absheron site in the Caspian Sea in 2021, Reuters quoted Azerbaijani energy minister Natiq Aliyev as saying, a year later than stated. Total owns 40% of Absheron, Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR also owns 40% and GDF Suez owns 20%.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Azerbaijan said they have arrested 26 people who had been fighting for the extremist Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. Azerbaijan has also said that over 100 of its nationals have been killed fighting for IS.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has scored its second major football success of the year.
In May Athletico Madrid played in the Champions League final against its inter-city rivals Real Madrid, one of the most-watched sports events in the world. Emblazoned across its shirt was “Azerbaijan: Land of Fire”, a logo designed to promote the country as a tourist destination.
Athletico Madrid may have lost that match, but for Azerbaijan’s international image it was a storming success.
Now UEFA, European footballs’ governing body, has said Baku will be one of the host cities for the Euro 2020 football tournament. More precisely, Baku will host three group games and one of the quarter-final matches in the first trans-continental Euro football championship (Sept. 19).
This is a major coup for Azerbaijan as hosting four of Euro 2020 football matches guarantees blanket TV coverage and kudos.
It’s even more impressive given the context. The other four host cities for Euro 2020 are London, Munich and Rome — cities with long football lineage — and St Petersburg.
Baku has been pushing hard to promote itself through sport. This year it secured the right to host a Grand Prix race in 2016 and it is hosting the inaugural European Games in 2015. Hosting the quarterfinal of Euro 2020 will probably top the list though.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)
SEPT. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s football federation has signed a deal with English football club Manchester United to help it develop grass-roots interest in the sport, media reported. Azerbaijan has been developing links with various football clubs.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)
SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya’alon visited Baku for a two day trip aimed at bolster military ties and trade.
This was the first trip by an Israeli defence minister to Azerbaijan for 22 years, media reported.
“I’m happy to be hosted here in the first historic visit by an Israeli defense minister to Azerbaijan,” Mr Ya’alon said.
“We have bilateral strategic relations and cooperation in different areas.”
Azerbaijan has become an unlikely ally for Israel over the past few years. For Azerbaijan the attraction is two-fold. It wants to buy military equipment that Israel produces to bolster its own military and it wants Israel as an energy client.
For Israel, the attraction is mainly military. A couple of years ago it emerged that Israel had drawn up contingency plans to set up a forward airbase in Azerbaijan if war ever broke out with Iran. Israel and Iran are sworn enemies. Azerbaijan lies next to Iran.
Last month Iranian media said that Iran had shot down an Israeli drone that had taken off from an airbase in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s situation has grown slightly more complicated over the past year as ties with Iran have improved. Its links with Israel, though, appear solid.