ARMENIA INCREASES RUSSIAN GAS IMPORTS BY ALMOST 20% IN 2007

Russia & CIS Energy Newswire
January 21, 2008 Monday 4:34 PM MSK

Armenia imported 2.05 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas in
2007, which was 19.7% larger than in 2006, Armrosgazprom said.

The selling of natural gas in Armenia grew by 17.9% to 1.86 billion
cubic meters.

The demand for gas grew by 32.5% to 532 million cubic meters for the
general population, 17.5% to 406 million cubic meters for industrial
enterprises, 29.6% to 44 million cubic meters for the public sector,
and 29.7% to 382 million cubic meters for other consumers.

The demand for gas in the energy sector dropped by 0.8% to 507 million
cubic meters.

Armenia has been buying Russian gas at $110 per 1,000 cubic meters
since 2006. It annually imports about 1.8-2 billion cubic meters of
Russian gas. There are also gas deliveries from Iran, but Iranian
gas is not pumped into the republican general network.

The Armenian-Russian joint venture, Armrosgazprom, is the sole supplier
of natural gas to Armenia. Its shareholders are Gazprom (RTS: GAZP)
with a 57.59% stake, the Armenian government with a 34.7% stake,
and Itera (RTS: ITER) with a 7.71% stake.