During the gas pipeline accident at the Darial Gorge, we replaced the Russian natural gas with the Iranian one, Armenia Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Ara Simonyan said at the National Assembly on Monday. He also added that once the pipeline was repaired, Armenia's energy security had reached a new level.
"Fortunately, Armenia has a second gas pipeline from Iran. And when the gas supply from Russia had stopped for more than a week, I believe our gas consumers did not feel it at all, owing to both the cooperation with Iran and the Abovyan underground gas storage, which was enlarged in the previous years," Simonyan said.
To recall, a 15-20-meter-high landslide had occurred on May 17 at the Darial Gorge, on the Stepantsminda-Larsi Highway, which leads to the Armenian border, near the Georgian border checkpoint. As a result, the landslide had covered the entire road, and the Russian natural gas supply to Armenia via Georgia was suspended.