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The residents of Shinikh village of Azerbaijani Gedabey region which is located on the border with Armenia are looking for opportunities to move to Georgia. They explain their decision by the fact that State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in the near future will start the implementation of the project of the gasification of Georgia, while they are freezing cold and no trees are left in the woods for their furnace. As the Azerbaijani news portal Haqqin.az reports, the villagers said about this in their appeal.

“We don’t have any other choice. In order to become consumers of Azerbaijani gas, we need to become the citizens of Georgia,” the villagers said.

They are surprised that the settlements located on the border with Armenia are still not supplied with gas. The residents of these settlements for many years have been living in harsh conditions but nobody cares about the improvement of their living conditions. “There is no heat in our houses; we still use woods to heat them, while SOCAR instead of thinking in the first place about its citizens, supplies Azerbaijani gas to the neighboring country.”

Haqqin.az notes that 28 villages in the area of Shinikh are not supplied with gas. “We ask Rognav Abdullayev (SOCAR president-ed.) whether we need to resettle in Georgia, become the citizens of Georgia to be able to make use of Azerbaijani gas. If our country has gas resources, if its amount is so big that you sell it to neighboring countries then why you don’t deliver gas to the regions of Azerbaijan? Why you close your eyes to the felling of trees by the villagers for heating purposes? We have no other choice. You proudly report that Azerbaijan delivers gas to the most remote villages of Georgia, how can we understand this?” the residents of the region asked.

The portal notes that there has already appeared information in media that SOCAR has already finished the construction of gas pipeline in Surami village of Georgian region of Khashur. The length of the pipeline is 14.5 km, which will result in the delivery of Azerbaijani gas to 1000 Georgian houses. It is emphasized that SOCAR provides 75% of Georgian gas, while the subsidiary company of SOCAR Georgia Gas controls the delivery.

It is noted in the article that President Ilham Aliyev in 2013 aimed to deliver natural gas to 95% of the population. “The aim is note achieved, gasification covers only 85-88% of the territory of the country, while the gasification of Georgia is conducted in full swing,” the author states.

According to the article, in the current situation, the residents of Gedabey region have no choice but to declare about their self-determination and together with their territory become a part of Georgia. The cost of that will be much cheaper. In this way they don't have to leave their houses, their ancestors’ graves and resettle in new places.