FOUR OPERATING UNITS OF THERMAL PLANT SOLD FOR 35 M, FIFTH UNIT SOLD FOR 248 M DOLLARS
Lragir.am
13 april 06
On April 12 the core issue of debates between the government and the
National Assembly was the fifth generating unit of the Thermal Power
Plant of Hrazdan and the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan, Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan, Minister of
Energy Armen Movsisyan elucidated the topic.
The prime minister says Hrazdan 5 was a component of the Property
for Debt Program, which was rejected by Russians, however. Some
time later Serge Sargsyan stated the opposite. According to him,
Russians have displayed interest in Hrazdan 5 since 2000. However,
their stipulation was short-term return on investment. “And it meant
that we were to buy all the energy generated in this unit. Why if we
have cheap electricity?” the defense minister elucidated the energy
problems. This time Russians rejected this stipulation, and the deal
was struck. “Nothing good happens without me,” said Serge Sargsyan
with regard to Hrazdan 5. And Armen Movsisyan had to explain how it
happened that we sold all the four generating unit to Russia for 35
million dollars, and the fifth generating unit, half-built, was sold
for 248.8 million. Because when it starts operating, it will use
240 grams of gas to generate 1 kWh electricity, whereas the other
four use 400 grams. Even half-built it cannot be compared to these,
said Armen Movsisyan.
The prime minister stated that the sale of Hrazdan 5 is not related
with the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline and the other Iran-Armenia
projects, and the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline was not discussed during
the negotiations for Hrazdan 5. “The deal was a big business, it was
sold successfully,” thinks the prime minister of Armenia.
“Owning a pipeline has nothing to do with security. We have to discuss
if Armenia needs to have two gas sectors: state and Armrusgasard. It is
a question to be discussed in the future,” says the prime minister. It
does not depend on the ownership of the pipeline; the supplier
must supply gas to consumers, and “it does not matter whether the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline under construction will be included in
Armrusgasard,” says the prime minister.