Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu in Baku spoke with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and other officials about energy cooperation and Europe’s supply of Azerbaijani gas, Popescu wrote on Facebook.

“Today (Wednesday) I had a discussion with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. The conversation emphasized that relations between the two states are based on the principles of strategic partnership and, in this regard, the importance of the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership was noted. President Aliyev has expressed confidence that my visit will help to expand energy cooperation between our countries,” Popescu said, according to Agerpres.

Other discussions focused on relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, and the Azerbaijani President emphasized the successful development of these relations and noted that the signing of documents on the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and 9 other EU Member States is a good indicator in this regard.

“As a representative of the Romanian Government, I thanked him for his huge efforts to implement the Southern Gas Corridor and for his significant contribution to the security of Europe’s gas supply. I also conveyed that the second phase of the development of the The Southern Gas Corridor would be a valuable contribution to strengthening Europe’s energy security, and Romania reiterates its intention to include the transport infrastructure provided by the Romania-Bulgaria Interconnector and the BRUA gas pipeline in the plan to expand the Southern Gas Corridor to the Balkans and Central Europe,” the government official continued.

Popescu also conveyed to the Azerbaijani President that he welcomed the expansion of the activity of the Azerbaijani company SOCAR in our country and conveyed the openness to make joint investment projects in the field of energy both in Romania and in Azerbaijan.