Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko traveled to Azerbaijan in early September 2006 for talks with President Ilham Aliyev on redirecting Caspian Sea oil to European markets, with energy independence from Russia the central theme of the two-day visit.
At the heart of the discussions was a proposal to reverse the flow through the Odessa-Brody pipeline, originally built in 2002 to reduce Ukrainian reliance on Russian oil. The line currently carries Russian crude southward to the Black Sea; Yushchenko's plan would flip that direction, moving Azerbaijani and potentially Kazakh oil northward toward Poland and eventually the Baltic port of Gdansk.
The pipeline was pressed into Russian service in 2004 after Ukraine failed to secure alternative supply agreements. A natural gas cutoff by Gazprom in January 2006 sharpened Kyiv's determination to find new energy corridors.
Ukrainian and Azerbaijani officials were set to sign multiple bilateral agreements following the presidential meeting. Kazakhstan has also signaled interest in using the route. However, the plan faces domestic resistance: ministers aligned with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, Yushchenko's pro-Russian rival, have raised objections to reversing the pipeline's flow.
Both countries are members of the US-backed GUAM bloc, alongside Moldova and Georgia, which serves as a counterweight to Russia's Commonwealth of Independent States.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.