Government using all levers to ensure that Russia supply gas to Armenia at the lowest possible price

YEREVAN, May 20. / ARKA /. The Armenian government is working to employ all available levers in order to ensure that Russia supply gas to the country at the lowest possible price, prime minister Tigran Sargsyan said today in the parliament.

He said negotiations are being held at the highest political level, the purpose of which is to find a solution that will reduce the price of gas shipped by Russia to Armenia.

Armenia’s parliament began today debates on the government's program for 2013-2017. After the presentation of the program, Khachatur Kokobelyan, head of Free Democrats faction, asked the prime minister why the government did not take effective steps to organize supply of gas from Iran.

"I understand that this is being  prevented by Russia, but at the same time, I find absurd that we have given the monopoly on gas supply to Russia  when only a few hundred miles away from our border there is Iranian gas,’ Kokobelyan said.

Responding to this question Tigran Sargsyan said this question is not as simple as it may seem.

"Sometimes it seems that to negotiate with supplier countries is simple. But it is not an easy task. Today, the Armenian government is using all the levers so that the gas supplied to the country be delivered at the lowest possible price. To do this, we do everything possible- from discussions with Iran and ending with negotiations with our traditional strategic partner Russia," he said.

On May 14 Armenia’s Russian-controlled national gas operator ArmRosGazprom (ARG) asked the regulator to revise upward the current tariff for Russian natural gas. It wants to raise the price for consumers using up to 10 thousand cubic meters a month from current 132,000 drams per one thousand cubic meters (including VAT) to 221,000 drams. Armenia currently buys 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas for $180.

ArmRosGazprom is the sole company dealing with delivery and distribution of Russian natural gas to Armenia through Georgia. The company was founded in 1997, some 80 percent of its shares are owned by Russian Gazprom and the rest by Armenian government. 

Sargsyan also said that the government is ready to subsidize 30% of the fixed cost of delivered gas. He also stressed that due to the efforts of the government, the price of gas supplied to Armenia remained unchanged for the past three years..-0-