The Black Sea nation will shortly continue negotiations with the world’s largest gas producer on volumes, Kaladze said Tuesday in an interview in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. Supplies are set to rise as Russia intends to boost supply to Armenia, 10 percent of which Georgia receives for shipping the fuel across its territory.

 

Businesses can buy gas from Russia "if the price is acceptable,” Kaladze said. "We also seek volumes from another strong player, Iran.”

Georgia, which gets most of its gas from neighboring Azerbaijan, hasn’t bought fuel from Russia since 2007, as tensions between the nations increased before a war in August 2008. There have been rallies in Tbilisi against the talks with Gazprom, with opposition parties accusing the government of

allowing the Russian giant to reenter the nation’s energy market.

Opposition politicians are trying to discredit the government and should "separate politics from business,” Kaladze said. Georgia has held talks with Gazprom every year, even during the government of Mikheil Saakashvili, the nation’s pro-western president from 2004 to 2013, he said.

Kaladze, who is also deputy prime minister, met Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Miller in Milan last month to discuss the gas supplies and fuel transit. While Georgian businesses are free to seek cheaper gas, their choice is limited as Iranian gas isn’t available yet, he said.

Azerbaijan has enough gas to meet Georgia’s needs, State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan President Rovnaq Abdullayev said in an interview in Tbilisi on Nov. 6.

Georgia imports 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas a year, 90 percent from Azerbaijan and the rest from Gazprom as payment for transit.

 

(Bloomberg)