Georgia to buy gas from Iran bypassing US interests

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In case of necessity Georgia will buy natural gas from Iran, even if Americans speak against it, chair of the Georgian parliament Nino Burjanadze said. She reminded that in January-February Georgia was buying gas from Iran after the pipeline through which the republic receives gas from Russia was exploded, RSN reports.

As REGNUM reported earlier, US Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft announced that a long-term strategic Iran-Georgia partnership on the issue of gas supplies is inadmissible for Washington. But, as Nino Burjanadze said today in an interview to Palitra Nedeli newspaper, if necessary, Georgia would buy Iranian gas this winter, and the USA should understand it.

This subject will be discussed during Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli’s visit to the United States that started today. At the same time, on December 6-8, Georgian-Azerbaijani talks will be held in Tbilisi on delivery of Azerbaijani gas to Georgia this winter (Georgia needs 1.5-2 million cubic meters of gas annually). Meanwhile, Tbilisi refuses to buy Russian gas at the price of $230. Now Georgia buys Russian gas at the price of $110. The contract with Russia terminates on December 31, so Tbilisi is urgently seeking alternative gas suppliers. It is worth mentioning, the same price will be for Azerbaijan that is now examining a possibility of suspending transportation of its oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline.