Georgia and Azerbaijan Sign 20-Year Energy Deals, Resume Tbilisi-Baku Railway After Six Years
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Georgia and Azerbaijan signed a package of energy and transport agreements on May 18, following a meeting between the head of the Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, where the Georgian delegation was attending the World Urban Forum.
The agreements include a 20-year intergovernmental deal on electricity supply and transit between the two countries and a 20-year extension of a 2003 agreement on the purchase and sale of Azerbaijani gas to Georgia. The deals were signed by Georgian Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili and Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov and Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov. Their details and financial conditions were not disclosed.
The sides also signed a protocol under which daily passenger railway service between Tbilisi and Baku will resume from May 26 after a six-year pause, with a new section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway becoming fully operational.
Kobakhidze also addressed the Baku-Tbilisi-Supsa pipeline, which he said had "in practice, been shut down for the past three years." He said under a new agreement, "the operation of this pipeline will be restored" in cooperation with Azerbaijan, while remaining in Georgian ownership, generating "tens of millions in revenue annually." He described the broader package as historically significant. "We, together with Azerbaijan, are connecting the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea, and therefore Europe with Asia," he said.
The agreements came a month after Aliyev's visit to Tbilisi, where he met, among others, Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili. The Azerbaijani presidential administration said Aliyev "recalled with satisfaction his state visit to Georgia in April, noting the contribution of this visit to strengthening bilateral relations."
Before meeting Aliyev, Kobakhidze addressed the World Urban Forum, speaking about Georgia's economic growth and policy priorities around balanced territorial development and urban planning. On the margins, he also held bilateral meetings with Slovakia's Deputy Prime Minister Tomás Taraba, focusing on bilateral relations and what he described as the importance of "protecting national interests and maintaining relations based on mutual respect," and with Kenyan President William Ruto, where talks centered on Georgia's business environment and investment opportunities.
