ArmInfo. Armenia is ready to start buying gas from Azerbaijan after settling political problems, Armenia's Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Hakob Vardanyan stated at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum.
According to him, in the absence of political disagreements, the republic can become a transit country for gas and electricity supplies from Azerbaijan to Europe. The Deputy Minister noted that Armenia had a similar experience in Soviet times, when Armenia received gas from Azerbaijan through three pipelines.
"We can restart these pipelines if there are no political problems between our countries. We can also be a transit country for gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, the same applies to electricity," he said, adding that the Armenian side is ready to use all these communications, which will significantly diversify the region's energy security.
Hakob Vardanyan recalled that due to geopolitical problems in the region, Armenia experienced an energy crisis in the 1990s, and now believes that the time has come for cooperation. According to him, Armenia has a great opportunity to have open borders, power lines, transit and export of electricity from Azerbaijan to Turkey or vice versa, as well as export electricity from Armenia. "This is the fastest and shortest route between the two countries, as well as between Georgia and Iran. I hope that this will happen in the next couple of years," the deputy minister noted.
