Georgia and Iran negotiate gas transfers

By Tatia Megeneishvili

Wednesday, January 6

The Ministry of Energy confirmed the negotiations but did not name any specific agreements

Iranian media speculates about Georgian-Iranian gas deal

The Iranian Energy Company may supply Georgia with natural gas. The information regarding the issue was spread in the Iranian media.

According to Iranian media, Georgia needs the natural gas for domestic use. The Ministry of Energy of Georgia has not made any comments regarding the issue. The Ministry only confirmed that negotiations are underway with Iran, but no final agreement has been reached yet.

“The media reported that Iran launched talks about the supply of natural gas to Georgia through Armenia. In this regard it should be noted that no specific agreement has yet been achieved. It should also be noted that Iran is one of the largest gas producing countries in the world, and of course we continue negotiations with all potential suppliers in the region in order to ensure a stable and continuous gas supply in the long run," reads the statement.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC), Alireza Kameli, said that Iran has held negotiations with Georgia on sending its gas to the Caucasian nation through Armenia.

“Based on negotiations with Georgia, we are supposed to take gas to the Armenian border, from where it will be transported north. For signing a deal, however, the gas exports plan must be economically viable for Georgia,” stated Kameli.

According to him, the plan is to transfer 300-500 million cubic feet a day of Iranian gas through a pipeline for use in power generation in Georgia, he added.

Unlike the Ministry, the information about Iranian gas price is spread by the head of the Economics Committee, Zurab Tkemaladze.

According to him, at this stage of the negotiations, the offered price is 220 Dollars, which is an uncompetitive price for the Georgian side, since it is about 30 Dollars cheaper to buy gas from Azerbaijan.

The Russian energy giant Gazprom is also involved in the consultations regarding the price, because the pipe allowing gas to flow from Iran to Georgia passing Armenia belongs to Gazprom.