Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during a visit to Germany that Russia, because of damage to oil refineries caused by Ukrainian strikes, is no longer able to supply oil and gas even to its traditional partners in the previous volumes. “Due to the disabling of Russian oil refineries, Russia cannot supply its traditional customers with as many petroleum products as it would like,” Aliyev said in Berlin.

He noted that Azerbaijan is ready to replace Russia on the European energy market and significantly increase supplies if European banks resume financing oil and gas and infrastructure projects. “Azerbaijan can supply oil in the required volumes. This is possible both through domestic sources and through the trading division of our energy company SOCAR. That is, there are no problems here,” Minval quoted the Azerbaijani president as saying.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed Germany’s interest in expanding purchases of Azerbaijani gas and thanked Aliyev for the opportunity to buy “large volumes of gas.” This issue is reflected in the joint declaration signed following the talks, Merz stressed. Aliyev, for his part, said that Azerbaijan already supplies gas to ten European Union countries and this year began exports to Germany as well, calling this a “significant contribution to ensuring Europe’s energy security.”

He also said that trade turnover between Berlin and Baku amounted to about $1.5 billion last year, with the bulk of it made up by crude oil supplies, and 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 via the Southern Gas Corridor. Since January 2026, SOCAR has begun exports to Germany and Austria, expanding the geography of its supplies. In June 2026, Turkey and Azerbaijan concluded a 15-year agreement on the supply of 33 billion cubic meters of gas from the Absheron field, and earlier SOCAR signed a ten-year contract with Germany’s SEFE for the annual supply of 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas.

At the same time, Azerbaijan is increasing oil exports. According to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee, in 2025 Baku exported 23.4 million tonnes of crude oil worth more than $12 billion to 22 countries. The largest buyers were Italy ($6.7 billion), the Czech Republic ($742 million), Croatia ($666 million), Romania ($598 million), and Germany ($502 million). Over the year, Baku began supplies to three new countries — Switzerland, Denmark, and Georgia.