Amount of countries buying Azerbaijani gas will increase to 10 within a year - Aliyev

BAKU. May 10 (Interfax) - The number of countries buying Azerbaijani gas may increase from 6 to 10 within a year, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

"Everyone sees how important Azerbaijani gas is today. The geopolitical significance of our country has greatly increased. Currently, Azerbaijani gas is supplied to six countries [Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, and Romania]. If everything goes according to plan, then within a year their number will increase to 10," Aliyev said on Wednesday in an address to the people.

The geography of Azerbaijani gas customers will expand, he said.

"This brings us both income and increases our political weight and expands our possibilities for political influence," the president added.

Earlier, Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan plans to start gas supplies to Hungary and Slovakia at the end of 2023. In addition, Serbia stated that at the beginning of 2024 it was counting on gas supplies from Azerbaijan.

As previously reported, in 2022 Azerbaijan increased gas exports by 18% to 22.3 billion cubic meters, with supplies to Europe reaching 11.4 billion cubic meters (+39%).

For 2023, Azerbaijan's gas exports are planned at 24.5 billion cubic meters, of which nearly 12 billion cubic meters will go to Europe.