Georgia extends gas agreement with Russia's Gazprom

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09:30 | 08.04.2016

Georgia extends gas agreement with Russia's Gazprom

Georgia signed a deal with Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM extending a gas transit agreement, Georgian deputy energy minister said on Thursday.

Under the agreement Gazprom will pay Georgia 10 percent of the gas its transports to Armenia via the territory as a transit fee. Gazprom had wanted to pay cash.

"Terms of the agreement between the Georgian Gas Transportation Company and Gazprom Export are unchanged – transit fee remains 10 percent of transported gas and the length of contract is before the end of the year," Mariam Valishvili told a news conference.

Georgia's gas consumption was 2.5 billion cubic metres in 2015, up 38 percent from 2014. In the peak winter months, the country needs an extra 400 million cubic metres to meet demand.

Last year, the transit fee for Russian gas amounted to 200 million cubic metres of gas, and Russia sold Georgia an additional 135 million cubic metres.

Georgia, which imports most of its gas from Azerbaijan, wants to increase imports either from Russia or Azerbaijan.

The country signed a new deal with Azerbaijan on March 4, which allows it to receive an extra 500 million cubic metres of gas from Azerbaijan in 2016.

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