Business entities in Armenia not forced to purchase Azerbaijani gasoline, says regulator head
YEREVAN, January 14. /ARKA/. Not a single business entity in Armenia was forced to purchase gasoline imported from Azerbaijan, stated Gegham Gevorgyan, Chairman of the Commission for the Protection of Competition and Consumer Interests.
He emphasized that the Armenian government did not act as an importer of fuel and did not offer it for sale to individual companies. According to Gevorgyan, this was solely the voluntary decision of two specific companies that expressed interest in importing Azerbaijani fuel.
"As far as I know, the imported goods were sold quite quickly," he noted at a press conference on Wednesday.
He recalled that other goods, particularly grain, had previously been shipped to Armenia via the same route. He added that market participants were aware of the possibility of importing from Azerbaijan in the context of efforts to establish trade and economic ties with that country.
The head of the Commission stated that the regulator is in contact with market participants and has not yet received any complaints related to the impact of supplies on competition or a reduction in market volumes. He also noted that the volume of imported gasoline was relatively small, but had already influenced the pricing situation, as the Armenian Prime Minister had stated the day before.
According to Gevorgyan, the emergence of alternative routes and supply sources could have a significant impact on the market. He also expressed the opinion that the operation of this transport route signals a possible reduction in the cost of freight transportation through Georgia.
Earlier, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan stated that in 2025, some 6,580 tons of grain had been delivered to Armenia by rail through Azerbaijan, including 1,000 tons from Kazakhstan and 5,580 tons from Russia, as well as 1,210 tons of Azerbaijani gasoline.
As of January 8, 2026, some 8,485 tons of Russian grain arrived in Armenia by rail through Azerbaijan, with another 4,103 tons in transit. Also, 7,600 tons of Azerbaijani petroleum products (gasoline and diesel fuel) were also in transit.
This is the first time in 30 years that goods from Azerbaijan, as well as from other countries—Russia and Kazakhstan—transited through Azerbaijan, following the lifting of the ban on the transit of goods destined for Armenia in October 2025.-0-
