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BAKU: Construction of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline starts

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  • BAKU: Construction of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline starts

    Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
    Dec 1 2004

    Construction of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline starts


    Construction of the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
    started on Tuesday.
    Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markarian and Iranian Energy
    Minister Habibola Bitaraf met in Suyinik province of Armenia to
    consider the issue. The Iranian delegation will hold meetings in
    Yerevan on Wednesday to continue discussions on the project.
    The 41km-long Armenian section of the 72mm-diameter gas pipe with a
    total length of 141 kilometers, due to be commissioned by 2007, will
    be constructed by Iran's Sanir firm. The gas to be transported
    through the pipeline is earmarked only to meet Armenia's domestic
    demand.
    The construction of the Armenian section will be financed on a $30
    million loan to be allocated by an Iranian bank under the agreement
    reached during Iranian State Minister's visit to Armenia this July.
    Iran will spend $100 million to construct the 100-km section of the
    pipeline in its territory.
    The agreement to build the gas pipeline was signed by Iran and
    Armenia in 1992 and a map-plan of the pipe route approved in 1995.
    Under the agreement, Iran will annually supply 500 million cu m of
    gas to Armenia starting in 2007. The figure will reach 1.2 billion cu
    m in 2010. Armenia, in turn, will supply electricity to Iran in the
    future.
    Meanwhile, there were reports saying that Iran intends to transport
    its gas to European markets through Armenia. The issue was discussed
    during the last visit by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to
    Armenia as well.
    The Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Afshar Suleymani said that the
    Iranian side has not forwarded any proposals to Armenia, which
    imports Russian gas through Georgia, and wants to buy the Iranian gas
    as well. It is still to be determined through which country the
    Iranian gas will be transported and analysis is under way to choose
    the economically viable route, Suleymani underlined.
    `Europe is keen on importing Iran's gas. Iranian gas may be taken to
    Europe via two routes: either through Turkey and Greece or via
    Armenia and Ukraine,' the ambassador said.
    Touching upon transportation of the Iranian gas through Azerbaijan,
    Suleymani said that the Azerbaijani side has not made a proposal in
    this regard.
    `If Azerbaijan puts forth a relevant proposal, Iran will approve it,
    as a pipeline exists which used to take Iranian gas to Georgia and
    Russia through Azerbaijan in the Soviet times,' he added.*
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