Georgian PM explains reasons for changing Batumi summit format

Georgia will hold the energy summit, although it is unclear when, Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri said.

Batumi hosted an energy conference instead of a planned energy summit Jan. 14. Senior officials from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Ukraine, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Belarus and the EU attended the conference.

According to Gilauri, the energy summit failed because of the presidential elections in Ukraine.

“Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko could not come to Batumi due to the elections, so the summit has been converted into a conference,” he added.