Ukraine offers Azerbaijan gas storage and pipeline access at Uzhhorod energy talks

Ukraine put gas storage and pipelines on the table for Azerbaijan at energy talks in Uzhhorod on November 5, the Kyiv Independent reported, as the two signed an action plan.

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal named oil and gas co-operation, the Trans-Balkan route and access to Ukraine's underground storage facilities and pipeline network as possible areas for joint work, the paper said. He also wants more joint production and manufacturing in Ukraine, and invited Azerbaijani companies into energy infrastructure, logistics, construction and agriculture.

"Our countries are united by a shared strategic vision for the region's future," Shmyhal said on social media. "Our goal is to turn this vision into actual projects."

Kyiv is seeking gas and potential users for its storage as Russia attacks its energy system. The gas idea is not new: Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said in August that Azerbaijan would be ready to supply gas "should the need arise" and called Ukraine's storage promising, without giving volumes or dates. The only trade so far is a first deal between Naftogaz and SOCAR in July 2025, a small test shipment through the Trans-Balkan corridor. Azerbaijan's public account of Uzhhorod does not mention gas; the proposal is reported from the Ukrainian side only.

Shmyhal and Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov co-chaired the 14th session of the two countries' intergovernmental commission, the first held in Ukraine since the war began, Report said. They signed a protocol and adopted an action plan for 2026-2027 covering 14 areas, Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry said, according to Trend. Its summary of energy talks lists renewables, efficiency, storage technology, heat pumps, electricity and the Caspian-Black Sea-Europe Green Energy Corridor. The delegation toured a wind turbine plant at the Khust Industrial Park.

Trade grew 10.5% in the first eight months of the year and Azerbaijani exports to Ukraine rose 17%, Shahbazov said, with mutual investment at $513.5mn and 290 companies with Ukrainian capital operating in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani aid since 2022 totals about $52mn, including more than 10 packages of energy equipment that Shmyhal said were helping restore supply.

The commission follows up President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's April trip to Gabala, where the two sides signed six agreements, and fits a wider argument for using Ukrainian storage. Ukraine has made up to 10 bcm of capacity available to European companies, according to a Center for European Policy Analysis note in August.

Baku has kept a close partnership with Moscow, though ties soured after Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijani airliner in December 2024, killing 38 people, the Kyiv Independent said. Moscow has since sought to repair relations. Azerbaijan has not publicly addressed the storage proposal.