IRI PRESIDENT DOES NOT ARRIVE YET AT OPENING CEREMONY OF IRAN-ARMENIA
GAS PIPELINE BECAUSE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS
MEGHRI, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The opening ceremony of the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline which was scheduled for early March 19, did
not take place yet, as of 12:30: the IRI President did not arrive yet
in Meghri because of bad weather conditions.
As Sahak Abrahamian, the Director of the High-Voltage Power Lines
company mentioned, Iranian gas supply with a normal regime will start
in few months, and regulation and testing works of the gas pipeline
are in process at the present. It was also mentioned that 33 mln
U.S. dollars were spent for building of the Armenian side of the gas
pipeline with 711 mm in diameter and 40 km long. The Armenian side
gave 15% of the money: the Export Development Bank of Iran gave the
rest, as 5-year creadit with 5% a year.
To recap, the Iranian gas will mainly be sent to thermal power plants
the electric energy produced where must be exported to Iran. Besides,
owing to the gas pipeline the Agarak and Meghri population will also
be supplied gas. The Russian side will continue supplying gas in other
territories of Armenia.
Ara Simonian, the RA Deputy Minister of Energy mentioned that 400 mln
cubic metre gas will be brought to Armenia by the pipeline during the
initial period of time, and at the end of the program, that is, in 20
years, this volume will reach 2.3 bln cubic metre. He also mentioned
that the HayRusGasArd company has already started works on increasing
capacity of the gas pipeline. In the words of HayRusGasArd chief
engineer Ara Hovsepian, about 150 mln U.S. dollars will be spent on
increasing capacity of the Kajaran-Ararat part of the gas pipeline. It
is envisaged to complete those works in late 2008. He mentioned that
the goal of increasing capacity of the gas pipeline is not export of
gas from Armenia but meeting of personal demands.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
