Pipeliners

24.02.2005 18:30 MosNews - Georgia would like to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the sale of coastal pipelines that supply Russian gas to Georgia and Armenia. This information was revealed on Thursday, Feb. 24, by Georgia's Minister for Economic Reform and former Russian businessman Kakha Bendukidze. "We want to sell the coastal pipelines to [Russian gas monopoly] Gazprom or to a Western investor," Bendukidze told Reuters, adding that the sale would include a clause to guarantee supplies to Georgia. "The price for the pipeline will not be tens of millions but hundreds of millions of dollars," he said. He also said the buyer could extend the network, enabling Gazprom to pipe gas from Russia to Turkey. The pipelines capacity has fallen to 7-8 billion cubic meters annually since the fall of the Soviet Union, when they supplied 16 billion cubic meters. Repairs are likely to cost around $200 million, experts say.