When Rafik Baghdasaryan died in prison in 1993, his body was transported from Russia to Armenia for burial. Baghdasaryan was part of a criminal network spanning the former Soviet Union and associates from Baku flew in to Yerevan to attend his funeral. At the time, Armenia faced a profound shortage of energy but reverence for Baghdasaryan was reportedly so profound among criminal circles in Azerbaijan that power was restored if only for the few days of the funeral. Since then, Armenia receives its gas from Russia through the North Caucasus-Transcaucasia Gas Pipeline.
That story, recounted in Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, is not the end, however. In March 2021, while maintenance work was underway on the Transcaucasian pipeline, gas was temporarily supplied to Armenia through Azerbaijan – though not directly as it had once been. While it did indeed pass through Azerbaijan, it went only as far as Georgia and then redirected to Armenia. Nonetheless, it was an encouraging precedent, highlighting the importance of regional cooperation and integration.
Now, the issue has emerged again.
“Armenia is ready to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan,” said Hakob Vardanyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum held in Georgia last year. “[…] during Soviet times […] we got our gas from Azerbaijan. […]. We had three huge gas pipelines and we can restore these pipelines if there are no political issues between our countries.”
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“We are a country without any fossil fuels and our goal is to develop renewable energies more […], said Vardanyan in Tbilisi. “But for […] tangible volumes we need [regional] cooperation.” This necessity has also been emphasised in the European Green Deal. “The economic case for cross-border cooperation is strong,” a briefing by the European Environment Agency noted in 2020. “[It] can reduce overall costs and maximise benefits.”
The full opinion piece is available here.
