Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
December 1, 2006 Friday 8:27 PM EET

Fradkov hopes Georgia won’t thwart Russian gas transit to Armenia

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said Friday that he hoped
problems in Russian-Georgian relations would not thwart Russian gas
transit through Georgia to Armenia.

Fradkov was speaking at a news conference following a meeting with
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.

He said that he hoped Georgia would not take Russian gas transited to
Armenia without Gazprom’s permission.

Last year Gazprom accused another former Soviet country, Ukraine, of
illegally taking gas intended for European customers.

Fradkov called for making gas transportation routes "more efficient".
It was not clear whether he was referring to launching routes
bypassing Georgia.

Earlier this year Gazprom increased its gas price for Georgia from
U.S. $64 per 1,000 cubic meters to $110 per 1,000 cubic meters and
subsequently said it would hike the price to $230 per 1,000 cubic
meters in 2007.

Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev said last month
that Gazprom would agree to a lower price if Georgia sold some of its
pipeline assets to the gas giant.

Georgian officials have repeatedly said that they would not accept
the price hike and would not sell any pipelines.