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BUCHAREST, Dec. 17 (AP) — The leaders of Hungary, Romania, Georgia and Azerbaijan reached an agreement Saturday on a subsea power connector that could become a new EU powerhouse amid a war in Ukraine that crunches energy supplies. energy.
The deal concerns a cable to be laid on the bottom of the Black Sea that will link Azerbaijan to Hungary via Georgia and Romania.
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The deal comes as Hungary, which has lobbied vigorously against EU sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, is seeking more sources of fossil fuels to reduce its heavy reliance on Russian oil and gas.
Azerbaijan plans to export electricity from offshore wind farms to Europe via Georgia, Black Sea submarine cables, and then to Romania and Hungary.
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The office of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement on Friday that the agreement between the four countries would provide a “financial and technical framework” for the undersea cable project.
The project aims to diversify energy supply and strengthen regional energy security, the statement said.
On Friday, Romanian gas producer Romgaz also said it had signed a contract with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR to receive gas through the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, with deliveries set to start on Jan. 1.
Romgaz said it would serve the “strategic objective” of diversifying natural gas sources.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in August that Azerbaijan would soon produce “significant amounts of green electricity” from offshore wind farms and bring this energy to Europe by signing a connector project,
Hungary is meeting the requirements for the participation of two EU member states so that the investment can receive funding from the EU.
Szijjarto said the project, which could be completed in three to four years, would be an important step towards diversifying energy supply and becoming carbon neutral.
This week, Szijjarto met officials from Qatar and Oman to discuss possible future oil and gas imports from the two Middle Eastern countries to Hungary, a further sign that Hungary is taking steps to reduce its 85% gas imports. Currently, more than 60 percent of its oil comes from Russia.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Romanian President Iohannis, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev were joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday at the Signing ceremony in Bucharest. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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