December 16, 2005 - 14:06 AMT
Armenian and Russian Presidents to Meet in Sochi Today
Today Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Sochi with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian. Russian leader's Press Secretary Alexey Gromov said the Armenian President is paying a short-term working visit to Russia by Vladimir Putin's invitation. The Presidents are expected to focus on cooperation in energy field and also exchange views on the conduction of the Year of Armenia in Russia in 2006 to be opened by Robert Kocharian himself in Moscow in January. To remind, 2005 was marked as the Year of Russia in Armenia.
In 2005 the Russian and Armenian leaders met four times. According to Armenian sources, today the parties will refer to new interaction mechanisms in the gas field in view of reconsideration of price line by Gazprom. The interlocutors will also touch upon the problem of the 5th block of the Hrazdan Heat Power Plant. It should be noted that the Russian party intends to raise the gas price from $56 to $110 while Gazprom and RAO UES of Russia holdings claim to complete the construction of the 5th block of the Hrazdan HPP, which is immediately connected with the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline construction, reported IA Regnum.