Tuesday, 30 November 2004
Today RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan has attended the start-up of construction work on Iran-Armenia gas pipeline and the inauguration ceremony of the Agarak-Shinuhayr second high-voltage overhead transmission line.
As per the established program, the pipeline will be built on both the Armenian and Iranian territories. The Iranian portion of the pipeline will have a length of 100 km covering Tavriz-Norduz region /the border-point of Meghri/. The construction of this section will be ensured by the Iranian side. The first 40-km-long stretch will be built using the proceeds of a USD30mln loan made available by the Iranian side. The loan agreement between the RA Ministry of Energy and the Export and Development Bank of Iran was signed as early as in September, 2004 as Seied Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was in Armenia on official visit. At the same period, a sub-contract agreement on the construction of the 40-km stretch of the pipeline was signed between the Armenian High-Voltage Electricity Network Company and Sanir company from Iran. According to the above agreement, the construction will have to be completed by January the 1st, 2007 following which the Armenian and Iranian gas networks will come together and commence joint operations. To start with, they will be running at a capacity lower than the one stipulated in the basic agreement as signed in May, 2004, according to which, at the first stage, 1,1 bln cubic meters of gas will be imported into Armenia annually with this quantity being taken to 2,3 bln beginning 2019. The agreement will be effective for 20 years. To commission the pipeline at its projected capacity, further 197 km of pipeline will have to be built in the territory of Armenia covering the Kajaran-Sisian-Jermuk-Ararat area. Talks are underway with prospective investors concerning the construction of this section.
As for Agarak-Shinuhayr second high-voltage overhead transmission line, it is expected to help increase energy traffic between Iran and Armenia by 200 Mwt up to the level of 400 Mwt in total. In addition, safety in parallel operations of the Armenian and Iranian energy systems will be enhanced through the commissioning of Agarak-Shinuhayr second high-voltage overhead transmission line. An agreement to that effect was signed between the respective energy ministries as early as in 2002.
