Armenian President praised ITERA’s performance in Armenia in the past years. He said the company was Armenia’s long time partner, which met its obligations, and expressed confidence that mutually beneficial cooperation would continue.

Mr. Kocharian visited Russia on May 13-15. During the visit, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Alexey Miller, head of the Gazprom company.

Armenia’s energy sector relies heavily on imported gas. ITERA supplied gas to the republic from 1996 to 2004. Until 2002, it fully satisfied Armenia’s natural gas needs. Since 1996, the company has supplied about 9bn cubic meters of natural gas to the republic. Gazprom resumed gas supplies to Armenia in June 2003, and it is the only gas supplier now. In 2003, Gazprom supplied 288.4m cubic meters of gas to Armenian consumers, and ITERA – about 1bn cubic meters of gas. This year, Gazprom plans to deliver about 1.4bn cubic meters of gas to the republic.

ITERA has a 10 percent stake in Armrosgazprom, set up in 1997. The Armenian government and Gazprom have each 45 percent in the project. Armrosgazprom controls the entire gas distribution system in Armenia. It supplies natural gas and generates electricity.