Azerbaijan has responded to the Georgian crisis by reducing its reliance on trans-Caucasus oil pipelines, increasing shipments to Russia and starting to sell crude to Iran, the Financial Times reports Thursday.
"We don't want to insult anyone...but it's not good to have all your eggs in one basket, especially when the basket is very fragile," the paper quotes Elhar Nasirov, the vice-president of Socar, Azerbaijan's state oil company, as saying.
Nasirov said Azerbaijan would continue exporting oil to Russia and Iran, even though gas and oil shipments through Georgia had resumed, because of the increased risks in the Caucasus. He said: "We knew there was a risk of political turmoil in Georgia. But we did not expect war."
Separately, Elmar Mammedyarov, the foreign minister, told the FT: "We are trying to be friends with everybody, at the same time as acting in accordance with our national interests."