CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 23

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VI (1)
Turkey through Georgia is not as significant as it was several years
ago and it opens up new possibilities to promote the so-called North-
South energy system in the South Caucasus with the participation of
Iran and Russia.
The low oil prices have forced Azerbaijan to review its energy
policy in the region. It has lost its powerful energy card and has turned
into a spot of instability in the South Caucasus. This situation, a result
of the regional security environment, forces the South Caucasus
countries to look for alternative sources of energy and other raw
materials.
Against the background of these new realities Armenia must now
revise its overall security doctrine and strengthen its own energy
security system and actively search for new, perhaps alternative means
of power generation to attain self-sufficiency, based on internal
resources, and not dependent on external suppliers (an example being
renewable energy derived from sunlight and/or wind).
For Armenia – against the background of the ongoing confrontation
with Azerbaijan – the so-called North-South high-voltage grid project
can be a real alternative. Armenia needs its own energy corridor in the
South Caucasus and the North-South corridor can serve as such. The
North-South energy high-voltage power-line can be a real alternative
because Armenia has a key role in this program as the main player in
the ties between Iran and Russia. Armenia has a huge experience in
energy cooperation with Russia and Iran. It means that Iran and
Russia, in turn, need Armenia as a country for transit and coordination
of this project.
Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and perspectives of energy policy
Energy geopolitics is a key factor in the foreign policy of resource-
rich countries. In the Eurasian continent, the Russian Federation is one
of such states, and its energy policy in this region is crucial for the
newly established economic union. Free access to energy resources is
crucial for countries with scarce resources, and this is one of the
reasons why countries short of energy resources are interested in being
part of one union.
23