VLADIKAVKAZ, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - A natural gas pipeline being built in the Caucasus mountains linking Russia and Georgia will gain the honor of being the world's highest pipeline, the project chief said Thursday.
The high-altitude pipeline will link Russia and South Ossetia, a secessionist republic in Georgia, and is expected to end the region's gas dependence on Tbilisi.
"The pipeline will be laid at an altitude of 3,150 meters [10,300 ft]. This is the world's highest pipeline: there is nothing like it, including in terms of route complexity. We are now preparing documents to apply to Guinness World Records," Anatoly Tandelov said.
The 163-kilometer (101-mile) pipeline will connect the Georgian province with Russia's North Ossetia, with which it is ethnically and historically tied. Russia is expected to start supplying the self-proclaimed republic with natural gas in late 2007 or 2008.
