site.btaBulgaria, Azerbaijan May Start Exchanging Electricity for Gas

New areas for strengthening trade and economic relations between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan are being explored. Caretaker Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stoyanov held meetings on Wednesday with Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikail Dzhabbarov and Minister of Defence Industry Madat Guliyev in Baku, the ministry said. 

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan could launch an electricity-for-gas exchange. This was discussed during the meeting between Minister Stoyanov and Economy Minister Mikail Dzhabbarov. It was pointed out that Bulgaria is one of the largest producers of electricity in the region, while most Azerbaijan's capacities run entirely on gas.

In case Bulgaria can guarantee electricity volumes, Azerbaijan can commit to redirect excesses of gas to Bulgaria. "This is another opportunity for Bulgaria's energy diversification, especially on the eve of the winter season," Minister Stoyanov said.

He pointed out that it is important for our country to promote the export of Bulgarian goods, well-established products on the international markets in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, equipment for the food industry, etc. The two countries will partner to improve transport connectivity between them, and Bulgaria will provide a list of priority areas of interest in the Azerbaijani market.

Possibilities for the restoration of the direct air service between Baku and Sofia will also be explored. Until the pandemic, the air link had shown increasingly good results, but after the spread of COVID-19 it stopped functioning.

Minister Dzhabbarov stressed that Azerbaijan is making concerted efforts to develop its tourism sector and improving transport connectivity is of paramount importance. The Bulgarian minister supported the view that easier travel would be a prerequisite for increasing both tourism and business ties between the two countries.

Earlier in the day, Minister Stoyanov also held talks with Madat Guliyev, Minister of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan, with whom they discussed opportunities for deepening the partnership between the two countries and exchanging experience in this field. The main topic of the talks was Bulgaria's stalled defence sector until the beginning of August this year.

Minister Guliyev stressed that dozens of complaints have been received from their companies that purchase components or materials from Bulgaria and whose activities have been severely hampered because of the actions of the previous minister. The ministry pointed out that for over 40 days the specialised Expert Control Committee had not met, which, according to the ministry, had effectively blocked Bulgaria's military-industrial complex. The Azerbaijani minister congratulated his Bulgarian counterpart for the swift action to resolve the problem and expressed hope that such a situation would not be repeated.

In 2021, bilateral trade between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan amounted to USD 97.3 million, an increase of nearly 450% compared to 2020.