Armenia Reaffirms Iranian Involvement In Key Power Plant
8, December 2005
Armenia Liberty
By Atom Markarian
Energy Minister Armen Movsisian insisted on Thursday that Armenia’s multimillion-dollar agreement with Iran regarding a big but incomplete thermal power plant in the central town of Hrazdan will not be rescinded despite apparent pressure from Russia.
Russia, which owns another, functioning Hrazdan plant meeting 25 percent of Armenia’s electricity needs, has been trying to acquire the adjacent facility through its energy giants that already control much of the Armenian energy sector. But the Armenian government decided recently to sign a long-term management contract with a state-run Iranian firm that has pledged to invest $150 million in completing the plant.
[...]
The pipeline and the Iranian-built plan should considerably reduce the Armenian energy sector’s strong dependence on Russia. That dependence will be highlighted by the expected knock-on effects of the Russian Gazprom monopoly’s decision to double the cost of gas supplied to Armenia through Georgia. Armenian officials are scrambling to prevent the announced tariff hike from taking effect on January 1.
Still, Movsisian was at pains to stress that the Armenian-Iranian energy projects are not directed against Russia. “The Iranian pipeline is not envisaged as an alternative to the Russian pipeline,” he said. “It will simply give Armenia a second source of gas and boost its energy security.”
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Armenia Liberty
By Atom Markarian
Energy Minister Armen Movsisian insisted on Thursday that Armenia’s multimillion-dollar agreement with Iran regarding a big but incomplete thermal power plant in the central town of Hrazdan will not be rescinded despite apparent pressure from Russia.
Russia, which owns another, functioning Hrazdan plant meeting 25 percent of Armenia’s electricity needs, has been trying to acquire the adjacent facility through its energy giants that already control much of the Armenian energy sector. But the Armenian government decided recently to sign a long-term management contract with a state-run Iranian firm that has pledged to invest $150 million in completing the plant.
[...]
The pipeline and the Iranian-built plan should considerably reduce the Armenian energy sector’s strong dependence on Russia. That dependence will be highlighted by the expected knock-on effects of the Russian Gazprom monopoly’s decision to double the cost of gas supplied to Armenia through Georgia. Armenian officials are scrambling to prevent the announced tariff hike from taking effect on January 1.
Still, Movsisian was at pains to stress that the Armenian-Iranian energy projects are not directed against Russia. “The Iranian pipeline is not envisaged as an alternative to the Russian pipeline,” he said. “It will simply give Armenia a second source of gas and boost its energy security.”
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 7:17 AM
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