Yerevan invites Kyiv to Iran-Armenia pipeline tender

Interfax
May 12 2004

Moscow. (Interfax) – Armenia is inviting Ukraine to bid in a tender
for the building of an Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan announced at a joint press conference
with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich on Tuesday in the
Ukrainian capital.

Margaryan said this was one of the main topics discussed by the
Armenian-Ukrainian commission for trade and economic relations
on Tuesday.

He noted that his country and Iran are engaged in technical
consultations, after which will be discussions of financial details
and then the announcement of the construction tender.

“We are confident Ukraine will take part in it,” Margaryan said.

As reported earlier, a final agreement on building the gas pipeline
is expected to be signed in late May during a visit to Yerevan by
Irani Oil and Gas Minister Bijan Zanganeh.

The actual construction is slated to begin late this year and be
completed sometime in 2006.

According to documents signed earlier, the Iran-Armenia pipeline will
run 141 kilometers, 100 km in Iran and 41 km in Armenia. The project
price tag is estimated at $120 million. Plans are for Armenia to
receive 700 million cubic meters of gas per year via the pipeline
initially, up to 1.5 billion cubic meters later on. Armenia will
pay for the Irani gas with electricity at 3 kilowatt/hours per cubic
meter of gas.

Building this pipeline has been a discussion subject since 1992.
Aside from the main project players, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
China and some European Union countries have shown interest. The
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced
its readiness to be part of the project financing.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress