Iran to increase natural gas supplies to Armenia

ArmInfo. The results of the  program "Electricity for Gas," the process of building a high-voltage  Iran-Armenia power line, as well as the programs for the next year  were the subject of negotiations held on December 16-17 in Tehran by  the Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of the  Republic of Armenia Ashot Manukyan.

According to the press service of the ministry, during the visit the  Armenian Minister held a number of meetings with officials of Iran  and representatives of the Armenian community. In particular, with  the Director for International Relations of the National Gas Company  of Iran, Babazade, an agreement has been reached to increase the  amount of Iranian natural gas supplied to Armenia this year. Armenia  will increase the volume of electricity exports to the Islamic  Republic of Iran.

Ashot Manukyan also met with Armenian businessmen of Iran who are  interested in investing in wind and solar energy of Armenia. The  minister presented the opportunities and advantages of the zone of  the free economic zone "Meghri" that opened recently on the border  with Iran, which could become a platform for access to the countries  of the Eurasian Economic Union.

On October 20, at a press conference in Yerevan, Ashot Manukyan noted  that Armenia will purchase Iranian gas only if it costs less than  Russian gas. According to him, since May 15, 2009, Iranian gas is  supplied to Armenia according to the agreement within the framework  of the program "Electricity in exchange for gas." According to the  barter scheme, 3 kWh of electricity is paid for Armenia's 1 cubic  meter of Iranian gas. With the completion of the construction of the  Iran-Armenia power line by the end of 2019, the volume of Iranian gas  supplies will increase significantly, as will the supply of Armenian  electricity to Iran. In this case, the minister continued, the  Iran-Armenia gas pipeline will be completely filled.

The four-sided memorandum between Armenia, Georgia, Iran and Russia  providing for increasing the level of management of electricity  flows, security and reliability of power systems was signed on  December 23, 2015 in Yerevan.