ARMENIA CHOSE STRATEGIC PARTNER IN RUSSIA’S GAZPROM
05.04.2006, 23.50

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 6 2006

YEREVAN, April 5 (Itar-Tass) — Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan
holds that Armenia has made the right choice selecting Russia’s Gazprom
as its strategic partner. He made this statement on Wednesday during
the visit to the joint Russian-Armenian company ArmRosgazprom that is
the exclusive supplier of Russian natural gas to Armenia. The Armenian
government and Rosgazprom each own 45 percent of ArmRosgazprom shares,
while Itera energy group owns ten percent of the shares.

The Armenian government is interested in ArmRosgazprom being
profitable and having an effective management, Kocharyan, specifically,
said. He believes life in Armenia will improve remarkably with the
implementation of the adopted programmes.

ArmRosgazprom intends to complete the restoration of gas service in
the republic by the beginning of next year, said Karen Karapetyan,
the company’s board chairman and director-general. He said 360,600
customers presently use gas in the republic, and this index will grow
by 80,000-100,000 by the end of the year.

Armenia imported 1.68 billion cubic metres of gas last year, an
increase by one quarter on 2004, Karapetyan said. Work to perfect the
Abovyan underground gas storage is underway, and the gas pipeline
to Armenia from Iran is being built alongside the installation of
gas service and the increase of gas consumption in the republic,
Karapetyan noted.