The main energy officials of Georgia, Armenia, Iran and Russia will meet in Tbilisi next month for further negotiations on strengthening feedstock into links between their countries, confirmed Thursday the Minister of Energy of Armenia Levon Yolian.
The Ministers of the Armenian energy, Georgians and Iranians, and the general manager of a Russian electricity company leading had met in Yerevan for this purpose at the end of December. The Armenian government said after the meeting that the four nations could create a common energy market after the construction of two new transmission lines between Armenia with Georgia and Iran.
Yolian reiterated hopes for Armenia to become a major transit route for electricity and gas supply between the different parties. “A very active work is underway to involve the territory and energy of Armenia sector in the regional process,” he told reporters.
Yolian said the new talks on the issue are expected to start in the Georgian capital on April 11th. He added that the energy ministers of the four countries will be taking part.
The Georgian Ministry of Energy also reported Monday that the quadripartite meeting will be held in Tbilisi next month. “A Georgian delegation was already involved in the negotiations on this project in Yerevan, and these will continue in Tbilisi,” the ministry said in a statement to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
The information was made public when Alexander Novak, Minister of the Russian Energy, visited Tehran and met with his Iranian counterpart Hamid Chitchian. Novak reportedly said after the meeting that Russia and Iran are discussing the creation of an “electricity supply network” shared that would pass through Armenia and Azerbaijan. Without giving further details.
In a statement on the December negotiations in Yerevan, the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources stated that Russia, Iran, Armenia and Georgia are exploring ways to establish a “regional energy market. “
In this regard, the Ministry stressed the importance of the ongoing construction of a third more powerful high-voltage transmission line between Armenia and Iran. According to officials in Yerevan this investment of $ 120 million will allow Armenia to quadruple its electricity exports to the Islamic Republic by 2018.
The ministry also stressed that Armenia and Georgia will soon start building a similar line that will allow electricity networks to be better interconnected. This proposed $ 115 million is also expected for 2018, and is financed by German development bank KfW State and the European Union.
Ara © armenews.com