Iran-Armenia pipeline could be completed within two years
The Armenian finance and economics minister, Bardan Khachatryan, announced in mid-March that construction of a 141 km Iran-Armenia line could begin before the end of this year and be completed in one to two years’ time, reports the Ukrainian weekly, Zerkalo Nedeli. An intergovernmental agreement regarding the line was signed in 1995 which indicated the route of the pipeline and the price of the gas - $84/th cu me. The cost of the line has been put at $120 million.
The Armenian energy minister, Armen Movsisyan, reportedly said that an agreement on construction of the line would be signed “in the near future” and went on to add that the line could be extended through Georgia to Ukraine and thence to the EU, possibly with a 550 km section being laid under the Black Sea between the Georgian port of Supsa and Feodosya in the Crimea. Such a line could have an end-capacity of up to 60 Gm3 of which 10 Gm3 would be destined for Ukraine. The Ukraines estimated that all this would increase the cost of the line to $5 billion.
Discussions regarding an Iran-Armenia pipeline began in 1992. Other parties said to be interested in the project are Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, EU countries and China, according to Zerkalo Nedeli, which also says the European bank for reconstruction and development has indicated willingness to participate in the financing of the project
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