Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia to Hold Talks for Joint Electric Power Network

YEREVAN — Armenia, Russia, Iran and Georgia energy officials will meet in Tbilisi next month to discuss prospects for laying a join electric power network, Russia’s Izvestiya reported on Thursday.

The Armenian, Georgian and Iranian energy ministers as well as the chief executive of a leading Russian electric utility already met in Yerevan for that purpose in late December. The Armenian government said after that meeting that the four nations could create a common energy market after the construction of two new power transmission lines connecting Armenia with Georgia and Iran.

Armenian Energy Minister Levon Yolian reaffirmed Armenia’s hopes to become a major transit route for mutual electricity and gas supplies among them. “Quite active work is underway to involve Armenia’s territory and energy sector in regional processes,” he told reporters.

Yolian said the fresh talks on the issue are scheduled to start in the Georgian capital on April 11. He added that the energy ministers of the four states will take part in them.

The Georgian Energy Ministry similarly reported on Monday that the four-party meeting will be held in Tbilisi next month. “A Georgian delegation already held negotiations on this project in Yerevan, and these negotiations are due to continue in Tbilisi,” the ministry said in a statement to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

Armenia and Georgia will soon start building a line that will make their power grids more interconnected. The $115 million project, also slated for completion by 2018, is financed by Germany’s state-run development bank KfW and the European Union.

It was initially expected that Azerbaijan would send a delegation to the meeting, but Georgia’s energy ministry told RIA Novosti that Azerbaijan will not participate in discussion of the project.