Gazprom Export: New proposal will provide Georgia with a guaranteed income flow from gas transit services and increase security of gas supply of Georgia

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.