Khudatian insisted that this is not a consequence of Russia’s threats to hike the price of its natural gas supplied to Armenia.
“This is a decision that has nothing to do with another country and the Russian Federation in particular,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “It’s an economic, profitable activity that we [Armenia and Iran] both have an interest in expanding.”
Khudatian discussed the issue with Iran’s Vice President Hamid Pourmohammadi and Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad. The two sides agreed to set up a “joint specialized task force” that will look into practical modalities of deepening Armenian-Iranian energy ties.
Khudatian said they also agreed in principle to expand a long-running swap arrangement whereby Armenia supplies electricity to Iran in payment for Iranian gas imported by it.
“We both noted that Armenia needs to receive a larger amount of gas while Iran needs to receive a larger amount of electricity,” he said. “The existing capacity of our gas pipeline [leading to Iran] is greater than the [volume of] gas currently flowing through it.”
In his words, the gas-for-electricity exchange should at least be doubled after the protracted construction of a third power transmission line connecting Armenia to Iran. It is now slated for completion before the end of this year, added the minister.
Armenia imported less than 500 million cubic meters of Iranian gas last year in addition to around 2 billion cubic meters of Russian gas supplied via Georgia. According to Ara Marjanian, an Armenian energy expert, the Iranian gas is currently twice as expensive for Armenia as the Russian gas. This is why, he said, the swap arrangement is “very beneficial” for the Armenian side.
The Russian gas price for Armenia has long been set well below international market levels. Moscow has warned in recent months that the South Caucasus country will lose this discount if it continues to drift towards the European Union.