GAS PIPELINE IS A PROBLEM FOR RUSSIA
Support A1+!RA President Robert Kocharyan has arrived in Moscow on official duty. Today he will meet RF President Vladimir Putin.
According to Russian Mass Media, during the meeting alongside with other issues the Presidents will discuss cooperation in gas supply field.
They will particularly refer to the gas pipeline Iran-Armenia which will be exploited in December. «First the gas pipeline was supposed to supply Armenia with as much gas as the population of the country needs, that is to say, 1.1 billion cubic meters per year. But now Yerevan and Tehran speak about doubling that number. It is obvious that they are interested in transporting Iranian gas to Europe. This can't be favorable for Moscow», news.ru reports.
The control over this gas pipeline is important for Russia, especially from the point of view of the relations with Georgia. The economy of Armenia already suffers losses because of the tension in the relations of Russia and Georgia.
Now Moscow can stop the gas supply of Georgia without harming their «strategic ally», as the Iranian gas pipeline will be exploited in less than two months. Like the other CIS countries, Armenia buys Russian gas for 110 USD for 1000 cubic meters. But Russia compensated for the different in price supplying Armenia with weaponry, news.ru reports.
