Fares for Yerevan minibuses likely to rise: newspaper

YEREVAN, October 3, /ARKA/. An Armenian daily ‘Haykakan Zhamanak’ (Armenian Time) says in its today’s issue that the companies operating mini buses, which are the main passenger transportation vehicles in the country, are likely to raise their fares very soon for daily commuters. The daily says it came to this conclusion after examining a Yerevan municipality response to its inquiry.

“The municipality said that under contracts signed with mini-bus operating companies, no hike in fares is expected any time soon,’ the newspaper says, adding that this does not mean that the contracts can not be revised and changes made to increase fares.

“It is not clear how long this ‘any time soon’ is going to last. However, experts say the hike is most likely to follow an increase in natural gas price (all minibuses are converted to work on natural gas which is much cheaper than petrol) which is expected in March next year,’ it says. -0-