Georgia refuses Gazprom help to restore gas supplies to Armenia

MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia has rejected Gazprom's offer of assistance in restoring gas supplies to Armenia, the Russian energy monopoly said on Sunday.

Georgia halted Russian gas transit to Armenia on January 9 after damage was discovered on a stretch of the Kazakh-Saguramo gas pipeline.

Igor Volobuyev, deputy head of Gazprom's information policy department, quoted Georgia's gas transportation company as saying that it would complete the restoration work on the Kazakh-Saguramo gas pipeline "with its own resources by January 12 at the latest."

Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri earlier said that corrosion on the gas pipeline between Georgia and Armenia had resulted in a significant gas leakage, adding that it would take at least four days of 24-hour shifts to repair the damage.

The damage occurred in Georgia's Gardabani district on a 1,000-mm pipe.