BAKU, April 29. /TASS/. Azerbaijan does not intend to compete with Russia on European gas market, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at the "South Caucasus: development and cooperation" international conference Friday.

"We have never even thought about competing with Russia on the European gas market, because the supply volumes are incomparable," Aliyev said.

Meanwhile, the head of state did not rule out a twofold increase of gas supply to Italy, up to 20 billion cubic meters per year. But, in order to do that, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s (TAP) capacity must be increased, Aliyev said, adding that "it is impossible to resolve this matter in one month."

On December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan commenced commercial gas supplies to Europe via the TAP pipeline, a part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

The shipment, planned for 25 years, imply export of over 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas to the European market; 8 billion cubic meters are to be supplied to Italy, while 1 billion will be supplied to Greece and Bulgaria each. The 878-km TAP pipeline’s capacity is 10 billion cubic meters, and it is planned to be doubled in the future.