Agence France Presse, France
Jan 9 2009

Georgia halts Russian gas to Armenia after pipeline damage

TBILISI, Jan 9 2009

Georgia on Friday suspended Russian gas supplies to Armenia for five
days as a result of damage to a key pipeline, the energy ministry said
in a statement.

"Transit of natural gas to Armenia has been suspended for five days"
after damage to the pipeline in eastern Georgia, the ministry said.

Russian state energy giant Gazprom said it had offered assistance to
Georgia to repair the damage and "resume gas supplies to Armenia as
soon as possible."

Armenia depends entirely on Russian gas supplies of around two billion
cubic metres a year pumped through Georgia.