A tanker full of Caspian Sea oil bound for Italy via Ukraine left Georgia’s Black Sea port of Supsa on April 17, 1999, inaugurating the western route for early Caspian oil from Azerbaijan. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma were present to officially open the Supsa oil terminal and mark the completion of repairs to the pipeline from Baku. Representing the United States were U.S. Department of Commerce Counselor and NIS Ombudsman Jan Kalicki and Special Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Development Richard Morningstar, who read a congratulatory statement from President Clinton. The presidents pushed a ceremonial button to begin filling the tanker.
According to Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) President David Woodward, the success of the pipeline should give confidence to other investors to come to the region. Morningstar stated at the ceremony that the Baku-Supsa pipeline may serve as “the cornerstone of an east-west corridor that can promote economic cooperation and growth among all the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia.”
On the same day, a new ferry line connecting Poti, Georgia, to Odessa, Ukraine, was opened. The two events together mark the beginning of the revitalization of the Great Silk Road (the ancient trading route that caravans traveled through the Central Asian and Caucasus regions to reach Europe) and highlight the viability of an east-west transit corridor.
During a trip to Washington, D.C., in early April, Georgian Minister of Economy Vladimer Papava visited BISNIS’ office. Papava was optimistic about the significance of the new Supsa terminal for the Georgian economy, stating that “the opening of the terminal creates new possibilities” for investment in Georgia.
Joan Morgan covers Georgia for BISNIS in Washington, D.C.