TEHRAN SAYS ARMENIA IS NOT READY TO RECEIVE GAS FROM IRAN

Regnum, Russia
Jan 8 2007

Iran is ready to start gas delivery to Armenia at any time, but the
Armenian side is not ready to receive the gas. Spokesman for the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project Mohammed Reza said the Iranian side
accomplished all necessary works and installed necessary equipment.

"The Armenian side asked for a meeting in late March to discuss
the project and issues of energy supply from Armenia to Iran,"
the Iranian spokesman said, assuring that Iran fulfilled all its
obligations on construction of the pipeline and is ready to start
gas supply to Armenia at any time, Radio Liberty informs.

Contractor of the pipeline construction, Armenian High-Voltage
Electric Networks Company, announced earlier that the completion of
the construction works in the Armenian section of the gas pipeline
was scheduled for December 20, 2006, after that the gas was supposed
to come to Armenia, however, after Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan visited Iran on December 17, the Armenian and Iranian parties
announced that the time of commissioning the pipeline was postponed
till spring 2007.

The gas pipeline that connects Iran and Armenia has a diameter of
700 mm, its planned annual capacity is 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas.

Initially, amount of the gas sent to Armenia will be 1.1 billion cubic
meters, since 2019 it will reach 2.3 billion cubic meters. The contract
was signed for 20 years. To reach the planned amount, the Armenian side
is planned to lay some more 197 km of the pipe. For each cubic meter of
the Iranian gas Armenia is supposed to return 3 kwh of electric energy.