A spokesman for the ministry said the explosion damaged one of two pipelines in the North Caucasus-Transcaucasus trunk pipeline, and that technicians were working to restore gas deliveries through the undamaged pipe.
The explosion is not the first to hit the pipeline this year. In January, two blasts disrupted natural gas deliveries to the ex-Soviet republics of Georgia and Armenia for three days, at a time when weather conditions were particularly severe.
Georgian authorities claimed the explosions were a deliberate act of sabotage by Russia intended to force the nation into surrendering its pipelines to the Russian state-owned monopoly Gazprom.
However, Russia dismissed the accusations, saying the explosions were the work of Chechen terrorists. The Kremlin had previously claimed that Georgia was aiding the Chechens.
