Georgia receiving gas from three sources at a time – minister

TBILISI, January 30 (RIA Novosti, Marina Kvaratskhelia) – Georgia went some way to easing its energy crisis Monday, when the fuel and energy minister said that the country was importing natural gas from three countries for the first time in over three decades.

“For the first time in the last 35 years, Georgia is receiving gas from three sources simultaneously: Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran,” said Nika Gilauri, though he added that the situation would last only a month.

Georgia usually imports natural gas from Russia alone, but supplies were disrupted on January 22, when explosions wrecked a pipeline in the southern Russian republic of North Ossetia, an incident, which the Georgian leadership was quick to accuse its big neighbor of orchestrating. Both the Russian authorities and Gazprom, the country’s energy giant, dismissed the charges, but ill feeling continues to mar bilateral relations.

As a consequence, Georgia turned to Armenia and fellow Caspian Sea state Iran, which agreed to supply natural gas at $120 per 1,000 cubic meters, $10 more expensive than Russian gas.

RIA Novosti