Baku – APA. Only one man from Azerbaijani leadership spoke out against the signing of the contract on the Shah Deniz project, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Thursday.
He made the remarks addressing the Shah Deniz Stage 2 Production and Risers Platform Jacket Sail Away Event.
“When [the contract] was being signed, some raised their objection against it. At the time, Heydar Aliyev held a meeting and he invited us too. Khoshbakht Yusifzade and I, as SOCAR vice-president, took part in that meeting. Heydar Aliyev asked each of us whether we should not really sign this contract,” said President Aliyev. “Only one man from Azerbaijani leadership was against the signing of the contract. And that person has fled Azerbaijan long ago. And only now is the reason behind his objection beginning to be clear. He had intended to cause harm to Azerbaijan rather than benefit.”
That person had launched a massive campaign against the Shah Deniz project, the president said, recalling that some MPs, some government officials began to object to it.
“Heydar Aliyev knew very well that we by all means had to sign the contract. Nonetheless, he invited us all to attend the consultation to discuss the matter,” said the head of state. “He invited all SOCAR officials, government members and parliamentarians, and asked them to utter their remarks. No argument was brought against the Shah Deniz project. We all stood up and repeated that the contract had to be signed, because it was of vital importance to Azerbaijan. Time proved us right. That individual who turned out to be isolated in the consultation, I would say, got disappointed and left the meeting. After a few months, he left Azerbaijan forever.”
It was not so easy to realize the Shah Deniz project, Ilham Aliyev stressed. “The project is realized today, tens of thousands of Azerbaijani citizens are working there.”
Azerbaijan is becoming even more important country in the world, and the country has received and will continue to receive a large amount of currency, the head of state added.
He emphasized that additional 16 billion cubic meters of gas will be exported per year thanks to the project.
“If the Shah Deniz project was not realized, none would have invested in the Absheron and Umid fields. Who would build a pipeline 3.5 km and put a 45-billion investment?. If in 1996, the positions of our enemies and those of persons who have betrayed our country and statehood coincided with each other, all this would not have taken place,” Ilham Aliyev added.
The man who objected to the signing of the Shah Deniz project was the former speaker of the Milli Majlis (parliament) Rasul Guliyev.
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