Agence France Presse — English
November 30, 2004 Tuesday 7:33 AM GMT

Armenia and Iran to start building gas pipeline, share electrical power

YEREVAN

Armenia and neighbouring Iran are due Tuesday to launch construction
of a gas pipeline between their two countries, and also start using a
high-voltage energy line that would double exchanges of electrical
power, Armenia’s energy ministry said.

The construction of the pipeline’s Armenian part would be funded by a
30-million-dollar (25-million-euro) loan from Iran to Armenia, the
ministry’s spokeswoman Lusine Arutyunyan told AFP, adding that the
82-kilometer energy line was also financed by Iran.

Armenia intended to repay the 8.4-million-dollar loan for the power
line in supplies of electricity to Iran, she said.

The construction contract for the gas pipeline has been awarded to
Iranian company Sanir.

Iran and Armenia signed a contract in May under which Iran will
supply Armenia, a landlocked former Soviet republic which borders
Iran to the north, with a total of 36 billion cubic metres of gas
over a 20-year period, expected to start in early 2007.