Armenia, Iran Sign Deal To Increase Gas Imports, Power Flows

November 4, 2016 By administrator

armenia-iran-gas Armenia is looking to increase imports of natural gas from neighboring Iran after the two countries signed an agreement earlier this week.

Armenia’s Ministry of Energy, Infrastructure, and Natural Resources reported on November 2 that representatives of Armenia’s Energaimpex company and the National Iranian Gas Export Company signed a document authorizing the purchase of more Iranian natural gas during a visit to Iran on October 31 and November 1.

Armenia currently imports up to 500 million cubic meters of Iranian gas annually through a pipeline built in 2008. By comparison, Russian gas supplies to the South Caucasus country total around 2 billion cubic meters.

Iranian gas has until now been purchased by a state-owned Armenian thermal-power plant. The plant pays for it with electricity delivered to Iran.

Recently, Yerevan reportedly offered to buy additional volumes of Iranian gas, some of which could be re-exported to Georgia, and the Iranian side is said to have accepted the proposal.

The Armenian Energy Ministry said that its delegation, led by Deputy Minister Hayk Harutiunian, discussed prospects of transiting Iranian gas to third countries via Armenia with Iran’s deputy oil minister and a senior National Gas Export Company representative.

The delegation also met with Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian and an adviser to the minister, Homayoun Hayeri, and discussed increasing the volumes of electricity flows between the countries.

The parties discussed increasing power flows between Armenia, Iran, and Georgia within the current capacity of high-voltage lines, and also in the Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia regional cooperation format after the expected launch of new infrastructure, the ministry said.

The Armenian delegation members also visited the Iranian Mapna Company, which intends to invest in the construction of wind power stations in Armenia, as well as the Sanir Company, which is the general contractor for the construction of a third Iran-Armenia high-voltage line.

Artashes Tumanian, the Armenian ambassador to Iran, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service last month that Russia will not object to the increased energy cooperation with Iran because the deal “does not run counter to anybody’s interests.”

Iraq mulls importing oil from Armenia amid plan to cut Turkish import

December 25, 2015 By administrator

Iraq’s Acting Trade Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani discussed the possibility of buying cooking oil from Armenia instead of Turkey at a meeting with the Armenian ambassador, Karen Krikorian, in Baghdad last week.

An official at the Armenian embassy in Baghdad confirmed the meeting took place without giving further details, Reuters reports, citing the ministry spokesman said.
It comes after a trade ministry spokesman said the administration will gradually cut imports of Turkish cooking oil that it supplies for free to the population under a food rationing programme. The plan came on agenda due to political tensions between the two countries
“The plan is to replace Turkish oil with locally produced oil and oil from other countries,” he said, without indicating the reason for replacing Turkey with other suppliers.

EU farmers lost €5.5 Billion from Russian food import ban – Unions

August 1, 2015 By administrator

The trade embargo from Russia has cost European farmers an estimated 5.5 billion euros in lost revenue, a senior trade union official complained on Friday, sputniknews.com reports.

The trade embargo from Russia – which farmers and cooperatives are the victims of — has cut approximately half, 5.5 billion euros of our agri-food exports,” Albert Jan Maat, the president of the Brussels-based European farmers union Copa Cogeca, an umbrella group that includes around 60 agricultural organizations from all EU member states, said in a statement.

Maat welcomed as “a step forward” the EU Commission move to introduce new measures to support EU fruit and vegetable growers and dairy producers, but added that it was “nowhere near enough to compensate producers for their huge losses.”

Speaking on behalf of the Copa Cogeca union, representing 28 million EU farmers, Albert Jan Maat urged the EU to intensify negotiations with Russia to have the restrictions imposed on EU pig meat exports in early 2014 lifted.

In June Russia extended for another year its ban on food imports from the European Union, the United States, Canada and Norway. The list of products, first prohibited from being imported to Russia in August 2014, includes meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy products, fruit and vegetables.

Source: Panorama.am