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Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, has been hired to advise a BP-led consortium on the export of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, The Financial Times reports.

“Mr. Blair will join former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and the chairman of Goldman Sachs International, Peter Sutherland – a former chairman of BP – on an advisory panel being set up by BP and its partners,” the author of the article reads referring to a person close to the Azerbaijani project.

According to the article, the BP said the Southern Corridor Advisory Panel will “advise on political, environmental, reputational and societal challenges that may be faced by the Shah Deniz 2, TANAP and TAP projects during their early years.

The source has reported that Mr. Blair has been hired for his political and business experience – especially in dealing with EU institutions – according to the person close to the Shah Deniz 2 project.

British Prince Andrew had held a private meeting with the boss of BP, Bob Dudley at Buckingham Palace. The Duke has visited Azerbaijan’s leader some eight times in six years, that caused outrage in London.

Moreover, in 2009, Blair attended the groundbreaking ceremony of AzMeCo in Garadagh district of Baku. British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that during the visit to Baku, former Prime Minister of Great Britain had received 100,000 pounds (about 200,000 dollars).

In December of the last year, the BP leadership has signed a contract with Baku, which has become the beginning of a project in the value of $45 billion. We are talking about the pipeline that is to supply European markets with a natural gas, the newspaper notes.