Russia could double gas price for Georgia in 2007

This would be the highest gas price Russia currently charges from its former Soviet allies, and the closest one to an average European level, something Moscow has consistently sought since switching to a free market economy.

"Talks are under way, and we have proposed that [Georgia] should buy natural gas at $230 in 2007," a Gazprom official said, without elaborating when the proposal was made. He said talks are continuing, and contracts for next year have not been signed.

In 2007, Ukraine will pay Russia $130 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas under a recent agreement between the new pro-Russian premier and Moscow; Moldova will pay $170; Latvia is still in talks on a price rise to $217. And Moscow has repeatedly said it plans to raise the price for Belarus.

For Georgia, the price rise would be a major blow for its struggling economy. The South Caucasus nation, which imports 1.2-1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, has been in talks with Iran and Azerbaijan on gas supplies to make up for a possible disruption in Russian deliveries in the upcoming heating season this winter.

A disruption in Russian supplies earlier this year deepened the rift between the two post-Soviet nations. In late January, two blasts on pipelines running through southern Russia cut natural gas supplies to Georgia, and an explosion in a high-power electricity transmission tower in Russia's North Caucasus caused blackouts in much of the country.

Russia and Georgia have been engaged in a long-running diplomatic feud over the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and relations deteriorated further in the wake of a spying row in late September.

Russia has since cut transport and mail links to Georgia, cracked down on businesses allegedly related to the Georgian mafia in the country, and deported hundreds of Georgians accused of residing in Russia illegally.

The news from Gazprom came during the Georgian foreign minister's visit to Moscow, the first official contact since the spying dispute. Gela Bezhuashvili's meeting with the Russian foreign minister Wednesday seems to have brought no breakthrough in bilateral relations, with Russia signaling no intentions to lift the sanctions.

But Bezhuashvili said the meeting with Sergei Lavrov was "fruitful," adding that, given recent tensions, any meeting could be called an improvement in relations. RIA Novosti