Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 9
By Matanat Nasibova – Trend:
Statements related to the transit of Iranian gas to Georgia through the territory of Armenia are mostly populist in nature: they are made in connection with certain forces in the new Armenian government trying to give importance to their economic policies, including those of foreign trade, a well-known Azerbaijani economic expert, Professor Elshad Mammadov, told Trend.
He was commenting on the information of Armenian media about the possible transit of Iranian gas to Georgia via Armenia.
"When approaching this issue from the point of view of economic analysis, it becomes obvious that organizing the transit of Iranian gas through Armenia requires serious investment resources in the infrastructure of such a project. As of today, Armenia does not possess such resources, while Iran, on the other hand, also faces certain financial problems. With that being said, the Georgian market is not such a large and capacious market so that investments with the attraction of external credit resources could have the desired economic effect. Therefore, in my opinion, this is yet another propaganda canard launched in the Armenian media," Prof. Mammadov said.
With regards to Georgia, according to the expert, it is trying, as a consumer, to diversify supplies and work with different suppliers in order to try to lower the price of energy resources.
"Calls are sometimes being made in Georgia to reduce dependence on certain suppliers and this is also an element of a verbal battle, in order to strengthen their position at the negotiating table with gas suppliers. That is why I think that, in reality, and in terms of sound analytical assessments, the prospects of the transit of Iranian gas via Armenia is extremely unlikely," the expert concluded.