# Aliyev and von der Leyen sign an EU–Azerbaijan energy memorandum in Baku

Date: 2022

## The fact

On 18 July 2022 in Baku, [Ursula von der Leyen](/people/energy-ursula-von-der-leyen) and [Ilham Aliyev](/people/ilham-aliyev) signed a memorandum on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy, aiming at least 20 bcm/year to the EU by 2027 via the Southern Gas Corridor.

## Context

[Kadri Simson](/people/energy-kadri-simson)’s energy portfolio sat in the Commission file. Ursula von der Leyen and Kadri Simson are the counterparts.

MoU 18 July 2022; Lachin 12 December 2022; September 2023 operation. Energy is not the war driver.

The president of Azerbaijan is head of state and commander-in-chief. He can decree, appoint a vice-president, and order force. He does not sit as a Baku trial judge, does not write ICJ orders, and does not write European Commission memoranda.

## Evidence and sources

European Commission carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

It is not a rebate of Lachin or of September 2023.

## What is established and what is not

Established: The energy MoU was signed in Baku on 18 July 2022, aiming at least 20 bcm/year by 2027.

Not established: A unique 2022 European CPI coefficient from the signing table, or moral clearance for 2023.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

von der Leyen signed. SOCAR executes volumes. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Aliyev and von der Leyen sign an EU–Azerbaijan energy memorandum in Baku, not a later speech about Aliyev and von der Leyen sign an EU–Azerbaijan energy memorandum in Baku.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Aliyev and von der Leyen sign an EU–Azerbaijan energy memorandum in Baku on 2022-07-18 is not a licence to treat every later European Commission communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Aliyev and von der Leyen sign an EU–Azerbaijan energy memorandum in Baku into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He signed. von der Leyen signed. SOCAR executes volumes. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Ilham Aliyev: https://factrail.ai/people/ilham-aliyev

## Drivers

- Energy Security: https://factrail.ai/drivers/energy-security

## Sources

- https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-azerbaijan-sign-deal-double-gas-exports-europe-2022-07-18/
- https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_4550

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/az-eu-energy-mou-2022