ECONOMY
President Ilham Aliyev: Some of issues of European energy security will be resolved thanks to projects put forward by Azerbaijan
Baku, January 12 (AZERTAC). “Shah Deniz-2 project has also received great support from the international community,” said President Ilham Aliyev in a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers to discuss results of the country`s socio-economic development in 2013 and outline tasks for 2014.
“Azerbaijan hosted a grand ceremony attended by senior officials from leading countries. Azerbaijan, as the initiator of the Southern Gas Corridor, has played a decisive role in this as well.”
The President said: “I can say with full confidence that if Azerbaijan hadn’t assumed historic responsibility and shown its courage, foresight and principled position at the crucial moment, this project would not have been realized. We had been involved in various activities related to the Southern Gas Corridor for about 10 years. I personally attended almost 10 international conferences, events and meetings. But we saw that this issue was not developing, was standing still and was not moving forward. Therefore, we assumed responsibility again. It was clear to us that this project required a leader, and we assumed the leadership function. It is a big responsibility - both political and financial responsibility. But the strong economy we have created over the past years has allowed the opportunity to demonstrate leadership both in these projects and in projects of global nature. Today, some of the issues of European energy security will be resolved thanks to the projects put forward by Azerbaijan. The importance of this project is enormous, and the coming years will confirm my words once again.”