ARMENIA, IRAN TO START BUILDING PIPELINE IN SPRING 2009

IranVNC
Dec 23 2008
DC

Washington, 22 December (IranVNC 2008)–Construction on a pipeline
to deliver petrol and diesel fuel from Iran to Armenia will begin
next year, Armenia’s Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said today.

"Armenia will receive petrol and diesel fuel from the oil refinery
located in the Iranian city of Tabriz through the pipeline,
construction of which starts next spring," AFP quoted Movsisian
as saying.

Speaking at a news conference, Movsisian added that the joint project
was part of Armenia’s efforts to diversify its energy supplies,
which were disrupted by the conflict in neighboring Georgia in August.

Iran and Armenia will each finance half of the project, which is set
to cost 200 to 240 million dollars.

The 300-kilometer pipeline will run from Iran’s northwestern city of
Tabriz to Armenia’s northeastern city of Eraskh, where a receiving
terminal will also be built.

Construction is expected to take two years to complete, Movsisian
told reporters.

The announcement came one week after Movsisyan met Iran’s Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran. The two sides signed
a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in a number of
fields, including energy, oil, petro-chemistry and tourism, Iran’s
semi-official ISNA news agency reported.