EXPERT: CONSTRUCTION OF IRAN-ARMENIA OIL PIPELINE AND OIL-PROCESSING PLANT IN ARMENIA WILL INCREASE COUNTRY’S GEOPOLITICAL IMPORTANCE

ArmInfo
2008-07-11 17:21:00

The construction of Iran-Armenia oil pipeline and an oil- processing
plant in Armenia will increase the country’s geopolitical importance
since it will allow Armenia make a new breakthrough in economy and
politics, Ruben Safrastyan, Professor, Director of Oriental Studies
Institute, National Acedemy of Science says in an interview with
ArmInfo.

‘It should be noted that the project has feasibility study and the
calculations by Armenian and Russian experts testify to it’, Safrastyan
says. He believes the construction of the pipeline and the plant in
Meghri, first of all, a geopolitical project which will also bring
significant profit to the state budget. To recall, ‘Gazprom Neft’
Company displayed interested in the construction of Iran-Armenia
oil-pipeline and the oil-processing plant earlier. The project
will cost about 1.7 billion dollars. Inclusive of infrastructure
construction, it may cost 2.7 billion dollars. The annual capacity
of the plant must be 7 million tons of oil.

Gazprom President Alexey Miller discussed the given project during
his recent visit to Tehran.