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// Georgia will pay the most of all CIS states for Russian natural gas
Negotiations between Georgian and Russian Foreign Ministers Gela Bezhuashvili and Sergey Lavrov took place in Moscow yesterday. It was their first meeting since the beginning of the wide-scale standoff between the two countries. When it agreed to renew a dialog, Russia made it clear that it would make no concessions to Georgia. Gazprom has set the highest price in the CIS for its gas for Georgia, $230 per 1000 cubic meters.
ITAR-TASS news agency reported yesterday, citing Georgian Finance Minister Alexi Alexishvili, that Gazprom will provide Georgia with gas at the new higher price beginning January 1, 2007. Georgia is paying $110 per 1000 cu. m. this year. Gazprom supplies Georgia with 1.2-1.5 billion cu. m. of natural gas per year. Igor Volobuev, head of the Gazprom press service, told Kommersant yesterday that “the price of $230 corresponds to the proposals made to our Georgian partners.” He added that the contract has yet to be signed.
If that price is confirmed, Georgia's gas bill will more than double. The price is closer to price paid within the European Union than those in the CIS. Ukraine will pay $130 per 1000 cu. m., and the price under discussion for Latvia is $217 and for Moldova $170. Romania already pays $285 for its gas and Bulgaria $275. But Georgia is in a worse position in comparison with those countries because they only buy 10-20 percent of their gas at those high prices.
The Georgian finance minister said that “the government is taking measures to compensate the public for the difference in the higher price for imports with tariffs for households through the provision of subsidies.” The Georgian budget also contains an article to provide gas to electric power generators at a reduced rate. Kommersant has learned, however, that Georgia may be left without any gas over the winter. If that is the case, the gas pipeline from Azerbaijan that is expected to be completed in December will ensure Georgia's energy security. Industry analysts say that the pipeline's capacity is insufficient to meet all the country's demands, but that it will prevent a complete collapse of Georgia's energy system. Tbilisi has recently been negotiating with Iran and Azerbaijan for gas supplies in case an extreme situation arises.
A Georgian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili arrived in Moscow yesterday. The session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation that ends today is the formal occasion for the visit. The main event for Bezhuashvili will be negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, however. Bezhuashvili was asked as soon as he arrived in Moscow to comment on reports in the Russian media that Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to meet with him. “For me, as Foreign Minister, it would be a great honor to meet with the president of Russia,” he said. “But no such meeting was planned and I do not know who in Russia needed to spread that information or what for.”
The reports seem to have spoiled the minister's mood in any case. After negotiations with Lavrov, Bezhuashvili was tight-lipped, although he tried to be optimistic and characterized the negotiations as “very useful.” When asked if the ministers discussed sanctions, he replied, “Of course, we spoke about the sanctions. How could I not touch on that issue?” He did not say how that discussion ended.
The new price for Russian gas shows that Russia has no intentions of making concessions.
Natalia Grib; Vladimir Novikov, Tbilisi
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 02, 2006
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