Fears over Plan to Sell Strategic Georgian Pipeline

“There is a fear that if it is sold it will be bought either directly by Gazprom or by a subsidiary,” said Levan Vepkhvadze, a member of parliament with the opposition Christian Democratic Party, which opposed the lifting of the ban.

“The problem is that — and actually this is what we are demanding — such decisions must not depend on the government’s will but be regulated by law,” he said.

Critics have also warned that selling the pipeline to Gazprom, which earlier expressed interest, could even give Russia a legal justification for military intervention in Georgia.

“Russia has recently passed legislation allowing it to use military force abroad to defend its foreign assets,” said Lado Papava, an analyst with the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. “Gazprom is a state company. If it buys the pipeline that is not a privatization but a nationalization by a foreign country,” he said.

In Armenia, the potential sale has sparked fears that oil-rich Azerbaijan, which is already Georgia’s major energy partner, could purchase the pipeline as a means to put pressure on Yerevan.

“There is a real possibility that Azerbaijan could acquire shares in the Georgian pipeline and this is very dangerous for Armenia as long as the Karabagh conflict is not resolved,” Armenian political scientist Stepan Grigorian said.

“Azerbaijan would use this gas pipeline as a tool to put pressure on our country,” he said.

Analysts said that if Georgia does go ahead with a sale, Western governments may try to influence Tbilisi to ensure the pipeline ends up in friendly hands.

When Georgia first floated the idea of privatizing the pipeline in 2005, the United States provided $50 million in funds for urgent repairs instead, in a move analysts said was aimed at keeping it out of Russian hands. Georgia agreed under the deal to a five-year ban on selling the pipeline, which expires in April 2011.