YEREVAN

Russian gas giant Gazprom plans to invest around 109 billion drams ($208 million) in the overhaul of its network in Armenia in the next six years, the company said.

The overhaul plan is part of a major programme designed to extend the gas network across the ex-Soviet country, Gazprom Armenia, the company’s local distribution subsidiary said in a statement.

In 2021, the company plans to invest 17.3 billion drams in the expansion, reconstruction and overhaul of the underground gas storage in Abovyan, gas transmission facilities, gas distribution system as well as connecting new households and enterprises to the network.

The company will repair gas distribution system facilities, including the repair and restoration of about 80 km of medium and low-pressure gas pipelines.

In the next four years, the company will replace pipelines and insulation on the main gas pipelines stretching from Krasny Most to Alaverdi, from Yerevan to Armavir, from Ilichevsk to Yerevan and from Goris to the border with Nakhichevan. The total length of the sections to be repaired is about 70 km, the company said.

Gazprom Armenia also intends to overhaul two gas distribution stations in the capital Yerevan and the second biggest city of Gyumri.

The Abovyan gas storage is one of the principal elements of Armenia’s gas transmission system. It was constructed in 1962 on rock salt deposits at a depth of 800-1,000 meters. The gas storage regulates the seasonal gas consumption by Armenia’s industrial sector and supplies gas to the country’s most important gas consumers.

Gazprom Armenia ranked first in the list of major taxpayers in Armenia in the first quarter of this year.

The company paid 18.7 million drams to the state budget in January-March.