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A lawmaker representing the ruling Civil Contract faction has said that energy trade should not be an exception to Armenia-Azerbaijan bilateral trade.
Arman Yeghoyan, a member of the Civil Contract parliamentary faction, was asked at a press briefing to comment on the possibility of supplying electricity from Azerbaijan to Armenia.
“As for importing and exporting energy resources or energy in general, the more open routes and the more opportunities there are to import and export energy and energy resources from different sources, the more beneficial it is for Armenia. Importing gas and oil, exporting electricity—the energy exchange, trade, buying and selling of energy, just like all other goods and services, of course, should not be an exception to bilateral trade. For example, we have a surplus of electricity, and during certain seasons we even look for ways to consume it. As you know, we export electricity to Iran and Georgia,” Yeghoyan said.
On August 11, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in an interview with Azerbaijani television in Nakhchivan, claimed that Azerbaijani specialists had identified potential locations in Armenia for installing electricity transmission poles. He emphasized that this was done as part of preparations to build power transmission lines through Armenian territory within the framework of the TRIPP project. He also stated that if the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were to be shut down, Armenia could face an energy crisis, while the planned transmission line through Armenia to Nakhchivan could also become an additional source of energy for Armenia.
A joint statement issued by the United States, Armenia, and Azerbaijan on August 10 states that the three countries support the construction of a power transmission line as part of TRIPP. However, the document does not mention a separate agreement on supplying electricity from Azerbaijan to Armenia.