Georgia, Gazprom agree on fees from Armenia gas exports

PanARMENIAN.Net - Georgia’s Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze said the Russian energy company Gazprom has agreed to pay the Eurasian country 10 percent of Russian gas transported to Armenia across Georgia, Pulse Headlines reports citing local media. Kaladze said that the contract will be signed in the coming days, adding that it will remain in force until late 2016.

Previously, the Georgian Energy Ministry said that a new agreement with Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR will provide Georgia with 500 million cubic meters of gas.

“According to the agreement this year we remain within the scope of the existing contract, which is in force for years already, envisaging receiving as a transit fee 10 percent of natural gas transported [from Russia to Armenia],” he said. Recently, Gazprom proposed monetizing the transit fee and paying cash to Georgia, instead of providing the country with 10 percent of the gas transported to Armenia. That being said, Georgia would not be able to buy the same amount of gas that it is currently receiving.

However, as a result of the new deal with Azerbaijan, “there is no need for additional volumes of gas,” said Energy Minister Kaladze, according to Civil Georgia. He remarked that if Gazprom insists on monetizing the fee in the future, local authorities from Georgia will have a stronger position.