U.S. Senior Official Comments on Georgia’s Plans to Privatize Gas Lines

In an interview with the Georgian daily 24 Hours published on February 24 the U.S. President’s Advisor for Caspian Energy Issues Stephan Mann said that the Georgian leadership should be cautious over privatizing the country’s gas pipeline system.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Georgia is negotiating with the Russian energy giant Gazprom over a potential sale of Georgia’s gas pipeline network.

In the interview, which was published in Georgian, Steven Mann says that as a sovereign state, Georgia has the right to independently make decisions regarding privatization, but the United States has been calling on the Georgian leadership to use caution when making these kinds of decisions.

He said that the United States has been working to secure Georgia’s energy independence for many years and the U.S. will be categorically against steps which might hinder this process.

Selling of the gas pipeline system will contradict the plans of the United States, which envisages the creation of alternative gas supply sources for Georgia, Stephan Mann said.

Mann also said that he has held many discussions with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania over this issue.

Mann continued by saying that selling Georgia’s gas pipeline system to Gazprom would reduce the selling potential of gas piped through the Shah-Deniz project. The U.S.-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline, or the ‘Shah-Deniz project’, is part of the much broader, BP-led oil and gas development project in the region, which also includes the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Main Export Oil Pipeline Project.

However, Steven Mann said that the Shah-Deniz project will be implemented regardless of whether Gazprom buys Georgia’s gas pipeline system or not.

He said the United States is not against cooperation between Georgia and Gazprom, as the latter represents an important part of Georgia’s energy sector.
 
Steven Mann also said, while answering a question regarding how the sale of these gas pipes to the Russian company might influence U.S.-Georgian relations, that Georgia is a friend of the United States and the two countries will always have good relations.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)