YEREVAN. – Armenia does not import electricity from Georgia on a regular basis, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yervand Zakharyan said at a press conference on Wednesday.  

“We import electrical energy from Georgia solely in the case when the [capital city] Yerevan Thermal Power Plant is shut down for repairs.  

“In the meantime, we need to seek other sources to supply electrical energy to Iran in return for [natural] gas,” the minister explained.

To the query as to why Armenia’s power plants are not used for this objective, he responded by recalling that the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant (TPP) and the fifth unit of the Hraz TPP have an open capacity.

“It is a relatively expensive electrical energy, and if we start to use it, the exchange [of electricity and gas] will no longer be beneficial for us,” Zakharyan noted.