At his meeting with journalists, RA Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan informed them of large-scale Armenian-Iranian projects to be launched in the near future.

The foundation of the Meghri hydro-power plant is to be laid in a month, and the construction of the Iran-Armenia oil pipeline will start this autumn. A high-voltage lines construction project will be implemented as well.

The Minister said that the Meghri HPP construction project is estimated at U.S. $300-$350m. The Iranian side will sponsor the construction, which will be carried out by an Iranian company. Armenia will reimburse the Iranian side for its investments by exporting electric power.

Movsisyan pointed out high efficiency of the new HPP: the designed annual generating capacity of the Meghri HPP is 800-850m kwh, its total capacity being 140 MW.

To compare, Armenia’s largest HPP, Vorotan, has a total capacity of 400 MW, its annual generating capacity being 1bn kwh.

The Iran-Armenia oil pipeline is estimated at $160m. Armenia and Iran will be equal co-owners of the pipeline. The Iranian side will fund the construction, and Armenia will compensate for the investments from profits.

The Minister said the project will allow Armenia to purchase oil products at the Gulf price. “Several petroleum exchanges are operating throughout the world, and the Persian Gulf exchange is one of them. Oil products are U.S. $15-20 cheaper there than in the European market,” the Minister said. Also, the import of oil products to Armenia by means of pipelines will be 3-4 times as cheaper. Movsisyan rejected all the arguments that the pipeline will only be available to the companies dominating the oil import market. “Wholesale trade will be possible by means of tenders,” he said.

As regards the third project, high-voltage lines construction, it is estimated at €100-150m. The Samir company (Iran) will carry out the construction.