IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE TO BE PUT INTO OPERATION AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Regnum, Russia
Oct 26 2006
Iranian gas will be supplied to Armenia via Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
ahead of schedule, the High-voltage Electric Lines Company director
Saak Abramyan, whose company ordered construction of the pipeline’s
Armenian section, stated to a REGNUM correspondent. According to him,
it is supposed that the pipeline’s operation will start on December
20, 2006 instead of January 1, 2007.
Also, Saak Abramyan informed that construction works at 38-km section
of 40-km Megri-Kajaran section had already been finished.
Construction of the 40-km section is assessed to cost $35mln; 80% of
the sum will be loaned to Armenian side by Iranian development bank;
the rest will be grated from own resources.
It is worth reminding; according to Armenian-Iranian agreement, the
section’s construction, which will guarantee penetration of Iranian
gas deep into the Armenian territory, should be finished till 1
January 2007. It will enable connection of Armenian and Iranian gas
distributing systems and to arrange coordinated functioning. The
system’s preliminary carrying capacity will slightly be inferior to
amounts, recorded in main Armenian-Iranian agreement. According to
the latter (signed in May 2004), amount of Iranian gas, supplied
into Armenia will total 1.1bln of cubic meters at initial stage;
since 2019 it will total 2.3bln of cubic meters. The agreement was
concluded for 20 years. In order to reach the planned figures, the
Armenian side will additionally lay 197 km of pipe, which will pass
through Kajaran, Sisian, Jermuk, and Ararat settlements.
Also, it is worth stressing; later in June, the Gazprom Company
Deputy CEO Alexander Ryazanov stated that the company was going to
purchase the Iran-Armenian gas pipeline. According to him, the gas
pipeline’s putting into operation will enable guaranteeing Armenian
gas supply’s reliability. "There are problems concerning gas transit
into Armenia via Georgia because Georgia permits itself unsanctioned
gas extraction," Ryazanov said.