"In accordance with the previously reached agreement on transition to a new price level in 2006 considering the transportation scheme, Gazprom and Georgia's joint stock gas distribution company Tbilgazi signed a contract on supplying up to 920 million cu m of natural gas to Georgia at a price of $110 per 1,000 cu m in 2006," Gazprom said in a news release.
In 2005, Georgia bought Russian gas at a price of $64 per 1,000 cu m. As of December 1, Gazprom had provided Georgia with 1.23 billion cu m of natural gas.
Georgia does not produce natural gas. Central Asia is the main source of gas supplies for the republic, where natural gas accounts for some 24% of energy.
Gazprom and Georgia are bound by a 25-year agreement stipulating the following spheres of cooperation: natural gas supplies to Georgia and partnership in delivering natural gas to end consumers; the use, restoration, reconstruction and expansion of Georgia' natural gas pipeline system; supplies to Georgia's thermal power generating plants to produce and jointly distribute electricity; and the development of joint projects to use transit facilities belonging to the republic's gas transportation system.