Ashot Manukyan: Armenia can become a transit country for gas supplies

ArmInfo. Yerevan. Armenia can become a transit country for gas supplies. On March 21, responding to the request of the deputy from the Bloc Tsarukyan faction, Vahe Enfiajyan, the Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources resources Ashot Manukyan said.

Nevertheless, according to the minister, for today there is an opportunity to carry out not a physical transit of gas. So, for gas deliveries to Georgia there is no need to use the currently operating gas pipeline, for this purpose it is possible to involve the idea of swap supplies. In particular, Armenia would receive gas from Iran, and Russia, in turn, supplied its gas to Georgia. The problem, according to Ashot Manukyan, rests on the cost of gas, and, consequently, in its competitiveness.

The minister added that the possibility of swap supplies between Iran, Turkmenistan and Georgia through the territory of Armenia is being discussed. "We are ready to discuss any option by providing competitive transit conditions. As for the possibility of gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Armenia via Iran, the negotiations continue. As long as there are no progress on this project due to uncompetitive prices compared to the Russian price for" blue fuel", the head of the energy department of Armenia stressed.

As Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Hayk Harutyunyan told ArmInfo earlier, negotiations for finding the "best ways" for gas supplies to Armenia go with all regional states.  Earlier, Ashgabad had already offered Tehran to increase the current volume of gas swap for Armenia and Azerbaijan to 15 million cubic meters per day. However, according to Harutyunyan, in the case of Armenia, it is a matter of considerably smaller volumes, due to the capacity of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline in 6 million cubic meters of gas per day.

On January 13, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan announced that he was working on swap schemes for receiving gas from Armenia, answering the question of ArmInfo. According to him, swap gas supplies to Armenia were discussed with the ambassadors of Iran and Turkmenistan on the first working day of 2017.

Today the only way to supply natural gas to Armenia from Russia is the territory of Georgia. And this non- alternative way is permanently becoming the subject of discussions in the context of the development of relations between Moscow and Tbilisi. Thus, swap supplies of Turkmen gas through Iran to Armenia are the best way to ensure the energy security of the republic. At the same time, it seems that it is the swap that is able to save Armenia from the eternal disagreements between Moscow and Tbilisi.