Vice-President Šefčovič in Azerbaijan to attend the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council

Vice-President for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič is in Baku, Azerbaijan to attend the fourth meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council. The Council gathers all main actors involved in the Southern Gas Corridor, which is a strategic initiative that aims to bring Caspian, Central Asian, Middle Eastern and the Black Sea gas resources to the European markets. The meeting is crucial for streamlining the development and implementation of the Corridor by bringing together all the countries and stakeholders involved. Ministers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia and Türkiye are also attending, as invitations were extended to the energy ministers of the relevant EU Member States, partner countries and international financing institutions. On the margins, Vice-President is holding bilateral talks with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.

Before arriving in Baku, Vice-President Šefčovič said:

I am looking forward to receiving a detailed update from the operators and consortia on various projects of the Southern Gas Corridor. It has a strategic importance for European energy security, especially in the most vulnerable parts of Europe, such as South-East Europe and Southern Italy. We all stand to gain from this 'bridge' between the EU market and the Caspian region. In the long run, our objective is to create a pan-European energy market based on free trade, competition and diversified supplies, sources and routes.