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Expert: natural gas price in Armenia may leap to $220 per one cubic meter by April 2013
YEREVAN, August 7. /ARKA/. Natural gas price in Armenia may rise to $220 per 1,000 cubic meters by April 2013, Armen Poghosyan, head of the Association of Consumers of Armenia, said on Tuesday.
He said that natural gas price is going up, but the government is doing whatever possible to tame this rise.
“The price will be curbed until the 2013 presidential election, and after that the price is believed to surge,” he said.
Poghosyan told journalists that this price hike is inevitable, since Armenia imports Russian natural gas at $180 per1,000 cubic meters, while Europe pays no less than $320 for it. That is why the price will become equal for all sooner or later.
Poghosyan finds it necessary to search for other ways instead of asking Russia not to raise the price.
According to some media reports, the price for Russian natural gas may be raised to $320 per 1,000 from the present $180. Armenian energy and natural resources ministry is now negotiating with Russia’s Gazprom over the matter.
Natural gas prices haven’t been changed since 2011. Now households pay 132 drams for one cubic meter, and enterprises whose monthly gas consumption exceeds 10,000 cubic meters pay $243.13 for every 1,000 cubic meters.
ArmRosgasprom CJSC, established in 1997, enjoys the sole right for importing and distributing Russian natural gas in Armenia.
The company’s shareholders are Russian Gazprom OJSC and Armenian government.
Russia conveys its gas to Armenia through Georgia’s territory. -0-
18:50 07.08.2012
