The opposition parliamentary faction Democratic Front expressed protest regarding the government’s refusal to unveil the price Georgia is paying to import Iranian gas.

At a news conference on February 2 parliamentarians from the Democratic Front faction announced that they will demand that the cabinet members convene in the Parliament to present explanations about why the price is being kept secret.

The Georgian government refused to unveil the price it is paying for Iranian gas, citing that the deal with Iran is confidential.

But on January 30 the Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Mohammad-Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian as saying that Iran will export a total of 30 million cubic meters of gas to Georgia over the course of a month for the total price of USD 7 million. According to IRNA, Georgia has placed this USD 7 million as a cash deposit and the exact price will be agreed in the future.

“When one minister [referring to State Minister for Economic Reforms Kakha Bendukidze] says that he knows nothing about it, the second minister [referring to Energy Minister Nika Gilauri] says that he will not make comments and the third minister [referring to Economy Minister Irakli Chogovadze] says that this is a commercial secret and we do not need to know it – this is alarming,” MP Davit Zurabishvili of the Democratic Front faction said at a news conference.