19 March 2007, 23:32
Armenia now receives gas from Iran
On March 19, an opening ceremony of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline was held with participation of Robert Kocharyan and Mahmud Ahmadinejad, presidents of Armenia and Iran.
From March 19 on, Armenia can receive gas from Iran through the first 39.5-kilometre section of the pipeline from Megri to Kajaran in the volume of only 300-400 million cubic meters of natural gas per year. It is a very small volume even for domestic consumption. The second section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline running from Kajaran to Yerevan will be commissioned before the end of the first half of 2008. The second section will increase the pipeline capacity up to 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year because of a higher pipe diameter.
The Iranian party had provided a 30-million US dollar worth credit facility to Armenia for construction of the first 39.5-kilometre long section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. The cost of the second section from Kajaran to Yerevan is estimated as 130 million US dollars. According to the bilateral agreement, Armenia will supply electric energy to Iran in exchange for gas at a rate of 3 kW/h for 1 cubic meters of gas.
Author: Ashot Ter-Grigorian, CK correspondent
