Georgia aims to cut Russian gas dependency

Zurab Nogaideli, whose country is locked in a political dispute with Moscow, said in an interview that Russia was using the price of its gas for political purposes. Russian state-owned Gazprom has demanded that by next year Georgia should pay $230 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, instead of the $110 it pays now, and has threatened to shut off supplies if Georgia refuses to pay up.

The price compared with Gazprom charging Armenia "formally $110 but actually $64," Ukraine $130, and prices that were also lower than those asked of Georgia in the cases of Belarus and the Baltic states, Nogaideli told Reuters.

"It's very clear this is a political price," he said, adding Georgia was prepared to discuss prices commercially at a company-to-company level but not negotiate politically. "At the same time our policy is to diversify our supplies," the prime minister said. "I think we will be diversifying up to 50 percent of our supplies already next year, while we are 100 percent dependent on Russian supplies now. We are discussing supplies with Azerbaijan and Iran and to re-conduct gas from Turkey."

Nogaideli said price was not the only problem in dealing with Russia. "You need a long-term understanding from your partner [supplier]. We want to diversify as much as possible but at the same time this is not an anti-Russian move," he said. He has previously rejected an offer from Gazprom to soften the price increase if Tbilisi hands over control of its domestic gas distribution network to Russia.

Russia cut off imports from Georgia and severed most transport links after the pro-Western former Soviet republic briefly detained four Russian soldiers for alleged espionage in September. Reuters