No quick way for Georgia to end Russian energy dependency

Georgia’s strategic dream of ending its dependence on Russian energy supplies cannot be realised for two or three years and the country faces a rocky road before new partners such as Azerbaijan or Iran can step in, analysts say.

The mysterious explosion that wrecked the main Russian-Georgian gas pipeline a week ago has again reminded the impoverished Caucasian country how much it relies on its former Soviet and imperial master in the north.

But a dire lack of infrastructure makes changing the balance problematic, says Teimuraz Gochitashvili, geology professor at Tbilisi’s Technical University and an expert on pipelines.

For example, just to get emergency shipments via neighbouring Azerbaijan over the last week, Georgia had to rely on an ageing pipeline that has not been in use since the early 1990s, he said.

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