Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, visiting Baku in December 2006, said Russia was open to cooperating with Azerbaijan on delivering natural gas to third-country markets, even as Azerbaijan moves toward energy self-sufficiency through expanded production at its Shah-Deniz field.
The backdrop to the visit includes a pricing dispute: state monopoly Gazprom has pushed to more than double the rate it charges Azerbaijan for gas, from 110 dollars to 230 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres, part of a broader effort to raise prices for former Soviet states.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned that the increase could force his country to redirect oil away from Russian transit routes to fuel its own power needs. Azerbaijan has viable alternatives, including pipelines to Türkiye and to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa, and a new gas pipeline from Shah-Deniz to Türkiye is nearing operation.
All three export routes bypass Russian territory entirely. Analysts noted that routing oil and gas through these pipelines would cost Russia both transit revenue and a measure of its long-standing regional influence.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.