Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, became sole distributor of natural gas in Georgia, except of the capital city Tbilisi, after acquiring Itera-Georgia.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters in Baku that the cost of the acquisition was confidential but not large, Reuters reported.

Itera-Georgia, a subsidiary of Itera International Group of Companies, has confirmed that talks on sale of the company, ongoing for more than a year, were finalized this month. According to Itera-Georgia it is supplying natural gas to 170,000 customers in Georgia’s provinces.

SOCAR’s Georgian subsidiary purchased about two dozen of gas distribution companies in Georgia’s provinces in 2008; the company also operates oil terminal in Kulevi and runs chain of gasoline stations across Georgia.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said that the recent change of government in Georgia would not change SOCAR's position in Georgia, Reuters reported. He said that Georgia's new PM Bidzina Ivanishvili had met with the head of SOCAR's Georgian subsidiary and the Azerbaijan ambassador “and values SOCAR's investments in Georgia highly”.