Gazprom in Talks to Supply Gas to Armenia via Iran Under Swap Deal

Gazprom is in talks with Iran over gas exchange operations for supplies to Armenia, Sputnik reported CEO Alexey Miller as saying.

Miller met Georgian energy minister Kakhaber Kaladze for negotiations on Tuesday.

"Yes, we did discuss this issue, currently we are working on the issues of exchange operations with our Iranian colleagues," Miller said when asked about the exchange operations, Sputnik reported.

Currently, Russian gas is supplied to Armenia via Georgia.

Iran has proposed to swap oil and gas with Russia, oil minister Bijan Zangeneh said in October. Zangeneh raised the issue during Russian energy minister Alexander Novak’s visit to Iran. 

According to the proposal, Iran would receive natural gas, oil and oil products from Russia through its northern terminals and will sell equivalent volumes of the same products to Russia’s clients through its southern terminals.    

Tehran has been using a similar mechanism with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for over a decade through which it would receive oil from the three Caspian states at its Neka terminal and would deliver equal amounts with similar specifications to their clients at its southern ports.