The Contest for Gas Resources and Markets in Post-Soviet Space: Dependence and Diversification

Abstract

Multiple gas dependencies have evolved in terms of imports (sources), exports (markets) and transit of gas, both among the post-Soviet countries as well as between the post-Soviet countries and countries outside the post-Soviet space. To a significant extent, these dependencies are based on the infrastructure legacy left behind by the Soviet Union. This paper deals with source and market dependencies and identifies which diversification options have been considered and realised both recently and within the past five to six years, i.e. under the new global gas market conditions. Among the post-Soviet states, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan (and Tajikistan, see more below) are net gas importers, while net gas exporters include Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has only been a net gas exporter since 2007.