Azerbaijan beginning Caspian Sea desalination

Azerbaijan has begun a project for desalination of seawater from the Caspian Sea, a government minister said on 4 May 2012.

The minister of ecology and natural resources, Novruz Guliyev, told a meeting of the Caspian-European Integration Business Club that the work was being carried out by Gum Adasi NGDU, an enterprise of the state oil company SOCAR.

The minister said that the water would initially be used for industry, then later, if needed, for drinking water for the population.