Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the inauguration ceremony of Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector

Dear President Vučić, dear President Radev, dear minister, ladies and gentlemen!

First of all, I would like to thank my friend Aleksandar for the invitation and for the hospitality extended. I am very pleased to be visiting your beautiful country again. Let me note that I paid an official visit to Serbia last year. A month later, President Vučić visited Azerbaijan. Today, I am visiting your beautiful country again. This is further evidence that Serbian-Azerbaijani relations are developing rapidly and dynamically. We are strategic partners because the Declaration on strategic partnership has been signed between us, and we are demonstrating our commitment to this high status in words, documents and deeds.

Unfortunately, President Vučić has been restricted from speaking at the official ceremony today, as he noted, due to an adopted law. However, we will have the opportunity to talk nonetheless. I simply want to say that our personal friendship with Aleksandar has greatly contributed to the development of Serbian-Azerbaijani relations. He is doing great things for his country. Under his leadership, Serbia is successfully developing and pursuing an independent policy, a policy that meets the interests of the Serbian people and state. We as his friends are always happy with his successes, and are expanding our bilateral agenda with tangible steps and concrete works.

I am sure that after today's event and the opening ceremony, the operation of the interconnector will greatly contribute to the industrial development of Serbia. I know that President Vučić has large-scale plans for the development of the industrial potential of his country. Most of those plans have already been implemented. Of course, energy resources are required to implement these future plans and a diversified supply network must be established.

I can say the same about my friend, President Radev. We also have a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Bulgaria. This year, I visited Bulgaria and President Radev visited Azerbaijan. This shows that our relations are very dynamic and are based on friendship and strategic partnership.

In other words, I can say that today's ceremony is a ceremony of friendship, a ceremony of strategic partnership. Of course, I want to heartily congratulate both presidents on the occasion of today's opening. This is a project that can greatly contribute to the energy security of Serbia and Bulgaria. At the same time, I want to congratulate the people of Azerbaijan. Because Azerbaijan's gas export geography is further expanding. We currently export our natural gas to eight countries, and Serbia is the ninth country. Seven of these nine countries are European, and, of course, today's ceremony, the launch of the interconnector will make an important contribution to European energy security.

I must also inform you that the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic partnership in the field of energy was signed between the European Union and Azerbaijan last year, and this memorandum is being implemented. According to this memorandum, Azerbaijan is expected to double the volume of gas sent to Europe by 2027. The numbers already show that we are confidently moving towards this goal. In 2021, our gas exports to Europe were slightly more than 8 billion cubic meters and this year they will reach about 12 billion cubic meters. This accounts for 50 percent of Azerbaijan's total gas exports.

We also have other large-scale plans. Azerbaijan's overall energy strategy is being successfully implemented. The projects initiated and being implemented by us have greatly redrawn the energy map of Europe and Asia - Eurasia. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines are delivering Azerbaijani oil to the markets of the Mediterranean and the Black sea regions today. The Southern Gas Corridor, a huge infrastructure project with a length of 3,500 kilometers, makes a huge contribution to European energy security. It is no coincidence that the European Commission and its senior officials value Azerbaijan as a reliable partner and pan-European gas supplier. I must also say, and I am sure that my friend Rumen can confirm these words, that our gas supplies to Bulgaria started two years ago. In 2021, 270 million cubic meters of gas were supplied. A little more than 500 million cubic meters were supplied last year. This year, this number will be close to 1 billion cubic meters.

Azerbaijan is a reliable partner in the truest sense of the word. We are always loyal to the traditions of friendship and highly value friendship. It is the relations underpinned by friendship, mutual understanding and strategic partnership that secure the interests of many countries, and cooperation in the gas field also creates a strong foundation for large-scale regional cooperation. The relations between Azerbaijan and countries of the Caspian basin, the Black Sea basin, the Mediterranean Sea basin, Europe and the European Union – all these directions are developing in a positive way, and our future plans will also serve these directions.

Our future plans, of course, are to further expand the geography of gas supplies and access the markets of new countries through new interconnectors in Europe. Our main goal is associated with renewable energy, as Azerbaijan has signed agreements and memoranda of understanding with investors for the establishment of 10 gigawatts of renewable energy.

A few days ago, we witnessed another manifestation of friendship. Both Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as other member states of the Eastern European Group, supported Azerbaijan's candidacy and voted for the COP29 conference to be held in Azerbaijan, Baku. This is yet another example of our friendship. At the same time, it shows that although Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas resources, we see our future in the production and export of clean green energy. I am sure that the day will come when a similar ceremony will be held for green energy projects.

Let me once again thank my dear friend Aleksandar for the invitation and wish us all success. Thank you.