OFFICIAL NEWS
PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV GETS ACQUINTED WITH PORT OF GDANSK
Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Lech Kaczynski of Poland arrived at the port of Gdansk on Wednesday. President Aliyev viewed the plaque installed on the symbolic memorial stone in front of the administrative building of the seaport. The plaque says “It was installed in token of respect for President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev`s initiative to transport energy resources from the Caspian sea to the region of the Baltic Sea”.
President Kaczynski said the plaque was installed in honor of Heydar Aliyev, stressing that huge projects had been implemented thanks to this great statesman’s efforts.
President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for this plaque and respect for Heydar Aliyev.
After viewing the seaport from upstairs at the building, the Presidents had a meeting.
The Head of State was informed that the port of Gdansk, one of Europe`s largest seaports, handles shipments of crude, iron ore, chemical products and other cargo to a number of countries. The seaport was built in 1975. Seaport`s cargo handling capacity is 50 million tons. There is also the oil terminal in the port. This terminal is the final point of the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk oil pipeline project to be implemented by the Sarmatia consortium.
The oil is to reach this terminal via the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk pipeline to be carried then to other European countries. The pipeline`s capacity is 9 mln tons per year. It is scheduled to be increased to 14 mln tons.
The consortium plans to fill this pipeline with Azerbaijani oil as well. The pipeline is scheduled to ship Kazakhstan`s crude too. Official Astana declared in November last year at the energy summit in Lithuania that it supports diversified oil supplies. Kazakhstan is keen on the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk project as well.
After increasing oil supplies via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to a million barrels a day, Azerbaijan will try to fill Odessa-Brody-Gdansk pipeline as well.
Ukraine and Poland are major supporters of the Sarmatia consortium. These countries are hopeful that Azerbaijan will help ensure Europe`s energy security.