Azerbaijan and the pipeline war in Dagestan
The natural gas pipeline running between Mosdok, Russia and Kazi Mahomed, Azerbaijan, controlled by Russia's Gazprom,
has been the subject of terrorist attacks in Dagestan.
In 2009 it was blown up twice, on April 10 and November 11, and there were four other unsuccessful attempts to do so.
On January 12 yet another explosion took place which resulted in more than 200,000 customers not receiving natural
gas.
Azerbaijan has expressed its deepest concern over the terrorist attacks on the pipeline. Azerbaijan's former
Ambassador to Russia, Hikmet Gajizade, stated that a pipeline war damages Azeri interests in the region and make the
situation there tense and unstable, thus discouraging potential investors.
Gajizade added that some forces want to exclude the entire Caucasus region from energy transport, as certain forces
are opposed to transporting Azeri gas to Europe through Russia. An Azeri newspaper acknowledged that the Dagestan
explosions undermine Azeri gas transportation to the north.
