The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) is considering the request of Armenia to increase the gas supplies to Armenia, director for international affairs of NIGC, Behzad Babazadeh, told in an interview with theiranproject.com on Tuesday.
In his words, Iran wants to sign a separate agreement with Armenia on increasing gas exports in order to be directly paid for gas exports. As it is known, Iran currently supplies gas to Armenia in return for electricity. ”We have had talks in this regard. Of course, Armenia favors the price of Russia’s gas sales, which is low and we do not accept it,” he said.
Mr Babazadeh also stressed that if the parties reach an agreement, the gas-for-electricity agreement will be respected. But the company would like to sign a separate agreement with Armenia and receive money in return for gas exports.
Referring to the talks with Georgia, he noted that an agreement had been signed for exporting gas to Georgia, but it has not been finalized. The reason is that gas must pass via Armenia, whereas the negotiations between Georgia and Armenia have not been finalized.
