A number of meetings were held within the 8th Ministerial Meeting of Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council

Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov received Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development of Moldova Andrei Spinu within the VIII meeting of the” Southern Gas Corridor " Advisory Council. Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spinu informed about the current status of the country's provision of natural gas and noted the possible cooperation with Azerbaijan in this direction.

Noting the contribution of the Advisory Council to the supply of natural gas to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor from the new source, Minister Parviz Shahbazov welcomed Moldova's participation in the meeting for the first time. Necessary steps were brought to the attention to start activities on the next phase of this project: “Looking ahead the future, there is potential to increase exports. Realization of these opportunities and expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor is a process covering identification of consumers, signing of contracts, investment, establishment of interconnectors and necessary support. We are ready to start a dialogue with interested parties in this direction.”

At the meeting with the Romanian Energy Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu, diversification of natural gas supplies and possible cooperation with Azerbaijan were discussed. Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu said that the interconnectors implemented with the participation of Romania will contribute to the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor. He expressed Romania's interest in long-term cooperation with Azerbaijan on natural gas. 

Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also met with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Siyarto. The discussions focused on whether natural gas will maintain its position in the energy balance in the future as a sustainable energy, cooperation with Hungary in the second phase of the Southern Gas Corridor and issues arising from its future strategy.