A Joint Declaration on the outcome of the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council has been signed.

The document was signed by Azerbaijan`s Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov and European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Günther Oettinger.

The signing ceremony continued with a press conference.

Addressing the press conference, Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov said: “The Joint Declaration signed by participants of the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council brought to the fore the strategic partnership and the role of Azerbaijan, which is the linchpin of the project. President Ilham Aliyev praised the achievements in the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project. This year meeting saw an increase in the number of participants. Representatives from 17 countries, including Serbia, Hungary and San-Marino joined the meeting. This is an obvious example of growing interest in the Southern Gas Corridor project.”

The First Ministerial Meeting of the SGC Advisory Council was held on February 12, 2015, the second meeting on February 29, 2016, the third meeting on February 23, 2017 and the fourth meeting on February 15, 2018.