Budapest: The 10th meeting of the Ministers/Steering Committee took place in Budapest, Hungary, focusing on the “Agreement on Strategic Partnership in the Development and Transmission of Green Energy between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary, and Romania”. This meeting, as reported by APA-Economics, saw significant participation from Azerbaijan’s Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijj¡rt³, Georgia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili, Romania’s Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja, and Bulgaria’s Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov. Additional participants included representatives from the European Commission, the Joint Venture (GECO Power Company), and CESI.
According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the ministers reviewed Azerbaijan’s renewable energy potential and discussed the progress and prospects of the “Caspian-Black Sea-Europe Green Energy Corridor” project. Topics covered included the activities of the “Green Energy Corridor Energy Company” (GECO), Bulgaria’s involvement, the current status of the technical-economic justification conducted by CESI, and cooperation with the European Union on financing the project.
Documents signed during the meeting included a Protocol on the outcomes and a Joint Letter to the European Union’s Energy Commissioner, Dan Jorgensen, by the ministers of the four countries. Additionally, the procedure for Bulgaria’s accession to the Intergovernmental Agreement was initiated, and a document was signed for the transfer of key rights and obligations under the contract between the Ministry of Energy and CESI to GECO.
Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov announced on his X account that the Budapest meeting concluded with significant results, including the signing of a “Joint Letter from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary to the European Union (EU) Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen” to grant the project Project Mutual Interest (PMI) status. The inclusion of the project in the EU’s Ten-Year Network Development Plan and Bulgaria’s participation were agreed upon, alongside steps related to the fiber-optic cable component.
The ministers agreed to hold their next meeting in Georgia, concluding with a briefing on the outcomes of the Budapest meeting.