Kaladze: "Gazprom" presented an ultimatum to Georgia (UPDATED)

In the event of the failure of negotiations with Georgia, the Russian company "Gazprom" threatens to cut gas supplies to Armenia through the territory of Georgia, and  will supply Armenia  with  gas from Iran, said  on the air of the TV company "Rustavi 2"  the  Georgian  Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze.

According to him, "Gazprom" proposes to change the principle of payment for gas transit to Armenia. Now 10% of the volume of transit is in Georgia, but now "Gazprom" wants to pay money for it. "When they put such a condition, we expressed our disagreement, but we just said that Russia has a real opportunity to deliver gas to Armenia via Iran,"  he said, calling it "ultimatum."

According to Kaladze, the threat is real and "Gazprom" can supply to Armenia 1 billion  cubic meters of gas via Iran, after a small investment. The implementation of this threat would have dire consequences. Georgia will lose two and a half million cubic meters of gas per day, with the daily consumption of at least 11.5 million.

 "In this case, the country's energy crisis broke out, followed by a political crisis: The government will be forced to raise tariffs for natural gas for the population," he said.  Kaladze believes that the charge for the transit money is unprofitable, "because there is no guarantee that you can buy for the money the same amount of gas." Why it will not be possible, the minister did not disclose. Kaladze also said that in case of refusal to transit through Georgia, in about a year Armenia will experience a shortage of gas.

It is noteworthy that Kaladze made the announcement just before leaving for Vienna for meeting the director of "Gazprom export" Elena Burmistrova.

Moscow decided to pay for the transit of gas to Armenia in view of falling gas prices on the international market. That is why the Russian side wants to pay  money for the transit of gas, and not  to pay by gas.

According to unofficial data, the Georgian authorities are planning to purchase 50% of its gas from "Gazprom" and the same number from Azerbaijan. But officials have denied such allegations.

From this interview Kaladze it became clear why the Georgian authorities are afraid to lose gas supplies from Russia, if Baku said that Georgia is ready to supply as much gas as is necessary and at a good price. -02D-

2016 January 21 (Thursday) 14:15:37

The next meeting of the Minister of Energy of Georgia Kakha Kaladze with representatives of Gazprom concluded in Vienna on 20 January. The workflow continues to reach an agreement, reported the Ministry of Energy of Georgia.

"In Vienna, a regular working meeting of representatives of Gazprom and the Georgian side was held. The subject of the negotiations has not changed, and workflows continue to reach an agreement on the conditions acceptable to the parties," the ministry stated.

Experts and the opposition in Georgia criticized the minister, saying that cooperation with Gazprom will deprive Georgia of energy independence. The protests demanding an end to the negotiations of the Georgian government with Gazprom are held in the capital systematically.

Recall that Kaladze is lobbying for the purchase of gas from Gazprom and for reducing the share of gas imported from Azerbaijan, which now stands at 90% of the total imports of gas by Georgia.

In mid-January, the President of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev held talks with the head of the Georgian government, who assured that they were not talking about the refusal of the Azerbaijani gas, but only about diversifying the supplies. However, all of these statements ring hollow and are unfounded, since Russian gas is more expensive than Azerbaijani gas. -02D-