PIPELINE ACCIDENT HALVES RUSSIAN GAS SUPPLIES TO ARMENIA

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Dec 19 2006

TBILISI, December 19 (Itar-Tass) — Russian gas supplies to Armenia
have halved because of a landslide that damaged a 1,200-millimeter
trunk pipeline in Georgia.

"The reduced deliveries have not affected people, industrial
enterprises and heating plants, as the deficit is being compensated
from a Yerevan underground storage facility," said Shushan Sardarian
from the Russian-Armenian joint venture ArmRosGazprom.

The landslide occurred in the highland Dusheti district of northeastern
Georgia. The pipeline will be repaired in several days, a source at the
Georgian International Petroleum Corporation told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

The accident happened on December 18, and the deliveries are being
made through the spare 700-millimeter pipeline.

"The spare pipeline has a smaller capacity than the damaged
1,200-millimeter pipe, so the deliveries to a number of Georgian
areas and Armenia have reduced," the source said.