Armenia has signed a deal to supply electricity to Turkey from the beginning of 2009, Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said Wednesday.
Movsisian told reporters that the deal will see electricity from Armenian thermal power plants supplied to eastern Turkey.
“An agreement on this was reached during the recent visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gul,” he said.
“Turkey is a new market for Armenia, as Armenia last supplied electricity to this country during the Soviet period,” he added.
Gul’s visit Saturday to attend a football match between the two nations teams and meet his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan raised hopes that Turkey and Armenia could help the resolution of conflicts and establish diplomatic relations.
The deal was signed between Armenias state-owned High Voltage Electricity Network
company and a privately owned Turkish firm called UNIT, Movsisian said.
He said the infrastructure was in place on the Armenian side to deliver the electricity but that repairs to transmission lines and the installation of a new transformer in Turkey would take four to five months.
Armenia signs power supply deal with Turkey.