HAYRUSGAZARD EXPECTS $104 MILLION INCOME IN 2005

Armenpress

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS: Natural gas consumption in Armenia is
likely to reach 1.7 billion cubic meters by the end of the year,
a tangible growth against 1.33 bln cubic meters of 2004. Karen
Karapetian, the chief executive manager of the joint Russian-Armenian
Hayrusgazard company, the sole importer of Russian gas to Armenia
across Georgia, told a last weekend seminar the company has now 270,000
subscribers. He said this figure is supposed to make 370,000 by the
end of the year.

Karapetian said Hayrusgazard, which is also the contractor for
building the Armenian section of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, plans
to invest another $15 million in the development of gas distributing
network. Hayrusgazard is one of the biggest Armenian companies with
a 5,000 personnel.

Karapetian said also the company expects to receive this year around
$104 million of incomes, a substantial growth over $88.5 million
in 2004.

The government of Armenia and Russian giant Gazprom hold each 45
percent of Hayrusgazard’s shares and ten percent is held by Russian
Itera. Apart from deliveries of Russian gas to Armenia, the company
is also engaged in sale of electricity to Georgia. The company also
offered export of electricity to Azerbaijan at 2.5 cents per one
K/watt but it refused though it buys electricity from Iran at 4 cents.