Georgian govt sells part of gas transmission system to subsidiary of Azerbaijan's SOCAR for $7 mln

TBILISI. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The Georgian government has sold 41 gas pipelines in Imereti, Guria and Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti to SOCAR Georgia Gas, a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR), for 19.8 million lari or $7.1 million at the current exchange rate.

The corresponding decree of the Georgian government has been published on its website.

SOCAR will pay the Georgian state 2 million lari annually starting from 2032, it said.

In August this year, the Georgian government sold a 245-meter linear gas pipeline connecting the municipalities of Tsalenjikha, Chkhorotsku and Zugdidi (Western Georgia) to SOCAR's subsidiary for $3 million. The latter is required to pay for the pipeline by the end of 2040.

SOCAR has been operating in the Georgian oil and natural gas market since 2006. SOCAR Georgia Gas has implemented a major program for gas infrastructure development in Georgia, building over 5,000 km of pipelines between 2008 and 2018 and connecting more than 800 communities to the gas supply, bringing access to gas to 75% of Georgia's population.

SOCAR said in October that SOCAR Georgia Gas plans to increase coverage of gas infrastructure in the country to 88% by 2025. These plans are outlined in SOCAR's 2023 sustainability report published on the company's website. "While in 2008 the level of gas infrastructure coverage in Georgia was 46%, by the end of 2024, as a result of joint efforts by SOCAR Georgia Gas and the Georgian government, this figure is expected to reach 88%," the report said.

As a result of the company's work, the number of its subscribers in Georgia increased from 71,000 in 2009 to 870,000 by early 2024, it said.

Gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Georgia totaled 2.4 billion cubic meters in 2023, down 8.7% from 2022. This accounts for more than 80% of the country's natural gas consumption.