ArmInfo. A meeting between Director General of Gazprom Export LLC Elena Burmistrova and Minister of Energy of Georgia Kakha Kaladze took place on January 10, 2017, in Minsk. The terms of gas transit to Armenia through the territory of Georgia, as well as gas supplies to Georgia were discussed at the meeting, the official website of Gazprom Export reports.
"Gazprom Export made to the Georgian side a package proposal based on favourable and mutually beneficial conditions, which will provide the Georgian side with a guaranteed income flow from gas transit services and increase the security of gas supply of Georgia", Director General of Gazprom Export LLC Elena Burmistrova said.
To note, Georgian Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze told reporters following yesterday's meeting with Gazprom Export managers in Minsk that Gazprom has offered Georgia new terms of payment for the transit of Russian gas to Armenia. News Georgia quoted Kaladze as saying that the details of the contract will be clear after the Georgian Government discusses the issue at its sitting on Jan 11. "This was the last offer by Gazprom. We mainly talked about transition to monetized payments," Kaladze said on Imedi TV after getting back from Minsk. He said that the previous two meetings with Gazprom proved to be to no avail, because the sides had different positions, but the latest offer was "pretty interesting". Earlier Kakha Kaladze said that the Georgian side has a "very simple" position: "even in case of transition to monetized payments, the country should receive the same benefit".
The company reminds that gas transit from Russia to Armenia is carried out via the territory of Georgia. Earlier the services of transiting gas via the territory of Georgia were paid in kind, by physical supplies equivalent to 10% of natural gas transported through Georgia to Georgian consumers. In the global gas trade the practice of paying for transit with commodity has not been used for many years already. The Russian side offered its Georgian partners to shift to cash transactions based on rates which are used in the EU countries.