Armenian State Commission s data on petroleum prices in Armenia and Russia differ from real figures

ArmInfo. In 2015 the petroleum prices in Armenia slightly dropped, Artak Shaboyan, Head of the Armenian State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition, has told reporters.

According to the Commission, in 2015 the petroleum prices fell from 470 AMD to 410 AMD, or by 13%. As regards the incommensurable decline in petroleum prices amid the tangible decline in international oil prices, Shaboyan says that the share of oil in the petroleum sold in Armenia is 7%.  In Russia petroleum bears high taxes. In addition, the transportation needs significant funds.  Therefore, the share of the impact of the oil price reduction is 7-8% and the price fall does not influence the petroleum prices in Armenia much, he says.

To note, despite the comparatively high taxes, the petroleum prices in Russia have dropped almost twice as compared with the prices in Armenia. Today the "Regular" petroleum in Yerevan costs about 420-430 AMD per liter (a little less than 1 USD), while at the filing stations at Moscow it costs 34 RUR per liter (less than half a dollar). This is simply explained with the fall in the world oil prices.  Moreover, on 1 July 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified a law on ratification of the protocol to the 2 Dec 2013 Russian-Armenian agreement on cooperation in the field of supplies of natural gas, oil derivatives and rough diamonds to Armenia. So, the period of duty-free supplies was prolonged till late 2015. In 2015, according to the indicative balance, Russia was to supply 136.2 thsd tons of petroleum to Armenia, including 120 thsd tons of Russian-made petroleum. In 2015, Armenia was to receive 150 thsd tons of Russian-made diesel fuel, 47 thsd tons of fuel for jet engines, (including 8 thsd tons of Russian-made fuel), as well as 29.2 thsd tons of Russian-made oil tar for bitumen production. The supplies were carried out before 31 Dec 2015.