During his visit to Germany, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that due to damage to oil refineries from Ukrainian strikes, Russia is no longer able to supply oil and gas to its traditional partners in previous volumes. "Due to the shutdown of Russian oil refineries, Russia cannot supply its traditional customers with as much oil products as it would like," Aliyev said in Berlin.
He noted that Azerbaijan is ready to replace Russia in the European energy market and significantly increase supplies if European banks resume financing for oil and gas and infrastructure projects. "Azerbaijan can supply oil in the required volumes. This is possible both from domestic sources and through the trading division of our energy company SOCAR. So, there is no problem here," the Azerbaijani president's words are quoted by Minval.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed Germany's interest in expanding purchases of Azerbaijani gas and thanked Aliyev for the opportunity to acquire "large volumes of gas." This issue is reflected in the joint statement signed following the negotiations, emphasized Merz. Aliyev, for his part, reported that Azerbaijan is already supplying gas to ten EU countries and has also started exporting to Germany this year, calling it a "significant contribution to ensuring Europe's energy security."
He also stated that last year trade between Berlin and Baku amounted to about 1.5 billion dollars, with the main part being crude oil supplies. After that, he spoke about plans to supply "green energy" to Europe in the future.
Since 2020, more than 50 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas have been supplied to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor. Since January 2026, SOCAR has started exports to Germany and Austria, expanding the geography of supplies. In June 2026, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a 15-year agreement for the supply of 33 billion cubic meters of gas from the Absheron field, and earlier SOCAR signed a ten-year contract with the German SEFE for the annual supply of 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas.
At the same time, Azerbaijan is increasing oil exports. According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, in 2025, Baku exported 23.4 million tons of crude oil worth more than 12 billion dollars to 22 countries. The largest buyers included Italy (6.7 billion dollars), the Czech Republic (742 million dollars), Croatia (666 million dollars), Romania (598 million dollars), and Germany (502 million dollars). Over the year, Baku also began supplying gas to Switzerland, Denmark, and Georgia.
