Georgia\'s head of government says his nation will cut in half its dependence on Russian natural gas by the end of this year. Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli also said that there will be more cuts in 2007 as the former Soviet state reacts to the Kremlin\'s announced plans to double the price of the heating fuel, the Wall Street Journal said Monday. Georgia is talking with Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey to secure alternative sources of natural gas, Nogaideli said. By the end of 2007, Georgia plans to buy just 20 percent of its natural gas from Russia, down from 100 percent last year. \"We aren\'t against paying a higher commercial gas price, but this is a purely political price,\" said Nogaideli, noting that Georgia and Azerbaijan are being offered gas next year at $230 per thousand cubic meters while their neighbor Armenia -- which is closely allied with Russia -- will pay less than half that amount. Nogaideli said a new pipeline will bring natural gas from Azerbaijan\'s Caspian fields to Georgia and Turkey next year. (UPI)