ARMENIAN GAS OPERATOR VOWS TO COMPLETE IRAN PIPELINE
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 31 2007

Armenia’s Russian-owned national gas company has reportedly pledged
to build the second and final section of a natural gas pipeline from
Iran by the end of next year.

The first 40-kilometer Armenian section of the pipeline stretching from
the Iranian border to the southeastern town of Kajaran was inaugurated
in March by the president of the two neighboring countries. Officials
said then that Armenia will be able to import large volumes of
Iranian gas only after the construction of the pipeline’s second,
much longer section that would extend it from Kajaran to the southern
Ararat Valley.

The Arminfo news agency quoted Karen Karapetian, chairman of the
ArmRosGazprom (ARG) operator, as saying late Wednesday that his
company, which is controlled by Russia’s Gazprom gas monopoly, is
already beginning work on the 197-kilometer stretch and plans to
finish it in late 2008. He said ARG will invest 52 billion drams
($149 million) in the construction.

The remarks suggest that ARG has, after all, been granted ownership
of the pipeline’s Armenian section as part of a 2006 Russian-Armenian
agreement that reinforced Russian control of the Armenian energy
sector. Armenian government officials have said until now that the
pipeline’s transfer to ARG is not a forgone conclusion.

Armenia currently imports each year approximately 1.2 billion
cubic meters of Russian gas which generates about 40 percent of
its electricity and serves as the main source of winter heating for
Armenian households.

Officials have said that the pipeline from Iran will have an annual
capacity of 2.3 billion cubic meters. Most of the Iranian gas is
expected to be used for producing electricity and exporting it to Iran.