Itera unwilling to resume gas supplies to Georgia

Problems concerning the restructuring of Georgia's debt to the Itera gas company and the possibility of resuming Russian gas supplies to Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia) will be discussed during the visit of Georgian Minister of State Avtandil Dzhorbenadze to Moscow that will start today. This will concern the restructuring of Georgia's old debts for Itera's gas supplies worth $90m. About 50 per cent of this amount is to be repaid by budget organizations, among which are the Tbilgaz gas company. Tbilgaz belongs to the city of Tbilisi and owes $10.9m to Itera, the Black Sea Press news agency reported to RosBusinessConsulting.

At present, Tbilisi doesn't receive gas from Russia. All gas supplies have been cancelled on June 26 due to Tbilgaz's indebtedness to Sakgaz - Itera's subsidiary. As a results of talks, an agreement was reached that if Tbilgaz pays a part of its debts and makes an advanced payment for July (around $800,000), gas supplies to Tbilisi will be resumed. However, according to General Director of Tbilgaz Vakhtang Tsaava, Sakgaz's officials made a new requirement - gas supplies will be resumed only after Georgia restructures its general debt to Itera.

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