GAZPROM STRIKES BACK: "GEORGIA’S CLAIMS GROUNDLESS"

Regnum, Russia
Aug 6 2007

Georgia has no grounds to demand monetary payment for the transit
of Russian natural gas to Armenia through the Georgian territory,
Gazprom’s information department representative informed.

"According to the terms of transit of Russian gas to Armenia, the
transit service is compensated for exclusively by supplies of natural
gas in the agreed volumes. In June and July, however, the Georgian
side consumed less gas than it was provided for."

"There are no agreements at this point regarding monetary payment
for the transit service. The Georgian side has no grounds to speak
of a monetary debt, let alone demand that it is paid," he said.

According to the Gazprom representative, earlier made statements of
the leadership of the Georgian Oil & Gas Corporation (GOGC) alleging
that Georgia for already three months does not receive neither gas,
nor money from the Russian company for the transit of natural gas to
Armenia, and that "the debt of the Russian company has reached $2mln,"
are unfounded. "At the same time, Gazprom management is hopeful that a
mutually acceptable decision can be found," Vedomosti quotes Gazprom’s
officials to say.