Interfax, Russia
Jan 9 2009
Gazprom to find out why Georgia suspended transit of Russian gas to
Armenia
MOSCOW Jan 9
Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) will soon identify the causes of the repair work
on a section of a gas pipeline to Armenia, a company official said.
"Very soon will become very clear as to what caused the emergency and
repair operations led by a Georgian gas transport company on a section
of a gas pipeline leading to Armenia," will be completed, a Gazprom
official said.
"So far we are unclear what happened there and why emergency
operations have to be conducted in extreme winter conditions," the
Gazprom source said.
On Friday, Georgia suspended Russian gas supplies to Armenia through a
transit gas pipeline, Gazprom’s deputy chief of the information policy
department Igor Volobuyev said earlier.
"Today at 12.30 p.m. Moscow time Georgia stopped transiting Russian
gas to Armenia," he said.
"Georgia says that the reason why it stopped is "the emergency and
repair operations to remove damage detected on the section between the
43.4th and the 66th kilometer of the Kazakh-Saguramo main gas
pipeline," Volobuyev said.
Gazprom and ArmRosgazprom have offered immediate help to the Georgian
gas transport company in order to resume gas supplies to Armenia as
soon as possible, Volobuyev said.