EU countries spend over one bln euros in January 2023 on purchasing gas from Azerbaijan

BAKU. March 28 (Interfax) - The European Union countries of Italy, Greece and Bulgaria imported natural gas from Azerbaijan totaling nearly 1.007 billion euros in January 2023, according to Eurostat materials available to Interfax.

According to Eurostat, the EU countries imported gas from Azerbaijan totaling about 887.435 million euros in January 2022, and totaling nearly 1.2 billion euros in December last year.

Accordingly, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria increased expenses for purchasing gas in Azerbaijan by 13.5% year-on-year, and decreased expenses by 15.4% compared to December 2022.

As previously reported, citing data from Eurostat, the EU countries imported natural gas from Azerbaijan totaling nearly 15.6 billion euros in 2022, an increase of 4-fold year-on-year.

Azerbaijan boosted gas exports 18% to 22.3 billion cubic meters in 2022, with supplies to Europe totaling 11.4 bcm, a sharp increase of 39%.

Azerbaijan plans to export over 24 bcm of gas in 2023, supplying at least 12 bcm to Europe.