During the visit to Istanbul, Georgia Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Mariam Kvrivishvili, engaged in a quadripartite meeting with representatives of Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria to review projects of regional significance.

Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov and Deputy Minister of Energy of Bulgaria Kiril Temelkov participated in the meeting.

Mariam Kvrivishvili extended her gratitude to colleagues for support in putting forward regional initiatives and highlighted the significance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Baku within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial, which laid the foundation to common vision of strengthening the regional electric power links.

It was noted at the meeting that regional energy security, diversification, and sustainable development are only possible through close coordination and practical joint efforts. In this context, the Green Electricity Transmission and Trading Initiative has a vast prospect to become a major platform connecting the region’s energy resources and renewable energy potential with European markets.

Within the Green Electricity Transmission and Trading Initiative project, the transmission system operators (TSOs) of the four countries have decided to establish a joint company that will finance the feasibility study and subsequently directly manage the project.

The project envisages the transmission of electricity from Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey and Bulgaria, and onward to other European markets. The initiative was launched at the Istanbul Energy Forum on November 22, 2024.

The meeting participants stressed the strategic significance of the Black Sea Submarine Electric Cable project, stressing that this large-scale initiative will further strengthen both Georgia’s export potential and the entire region’s energy security and connectivity.