Russia, Azerbaijan negotiating new oil transit deal - Lavrov

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia and Azerbaijan are negotiating a new oil transit agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a news conference on Tuesday, May 21 after a bilateral meeting with Azerbaijan’s foreign minister, RIA Novosti reported.

“Our respective energy agencies and companies are working on preparing a new intergovernmental agreement which will reflect current realities,” Lavrov said.

Last Tuesday, Russia published a document terminating the 1996 transit agreement. Lavrov explained that the 1996 agreement had been signed “on the assumption that the pipeline would be filled 100 percent and based on that, the tariff was established.”

That condition was not met, Lavrov said, adding the agreement had been terminated for economic reasons.

Sources in the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) were cited by local media outlets in Azerbaijan on May 14 as saying they had not received any advance warning of the termination.

However, later that week, Deputy Head of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration Novruz Mammadov told local media that “the transportation of oil at the moment is simply not profitable to both parties in terms of economic and commercial viability.” Mammadov added “we accept the decision of the Russian Federation as perfectly normal.”