ArmInfo. The tariff for Russian gas in the domestic market of Armenia has the potential to reduce. On 6 December, in a conversation with reporters Acting Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia Garegin Baghramyan stated.
According to him, if by the end of 2018 negotiations on reducing the tariff for Russian gas are not completed, then Armenia will "meet" the New Year with the old tariff. Baghramyan refrained from making any predictions, but assured that the entire required package of documents with all sorts of with the help and justification of the arguments of the Armenian side to reduce the tariff for the gas supplied, the Armenian side will present to its Russian colleagues during the upcoming meeting. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg.
At the same time, the Acting head of the Ministry of Energy refused to disclose the details, explaining this with possible negative wagging in the negotiation process. At the same time, Garegin Baghramyan called the manifestation of non-professionalism on the part of a number of experts claiming a 30% potential for reducing the price of gas for the domestic consumer if the cost of imported gas is unknown. "Only after we decide on the import tariff will we be able to talk about the internal tariff for Russian gas," he said.
Yesterday, on December 5, Armenian Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters that all issues on the Armenian-Russian agenda will be discussed in the margins of the meeting of the EAEC Supreme Economic Council on December 6 in St. Petersburg, including the price of Russian gas.
The Acting head of the Armenian government at this stage abstained from making any predictions as to whether the tariff for Russian gas will be reduced for the Armenian consumer. "Our desires and arguments in this matter are clear. It remains to come to an agreement around them with Vladimir Putin," said Pashinyan.
To recall, Armenia conducts negotiations with the Russian Federation on the reduction of gas tariffs. As stated at a press conference on November 21, the Acting Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia Garegin Baghramyan, in the near future, it is possible that the restriction on reducing the gas tariff for Armenia will be lifted. The prices existing in the gas supply system, as Baghramyan explained, are formed on the basis of the provisions enshrined in the intergovernmental agreements ratified by the Armenian parliament at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. "Some provisions of these agreements simply limit the functions of PSRC. For example, according to these agreements, the supplier keeps the additional income generated as a result of a reduction in the gas tariff at the border from $ 189 to $ 165. The revenues were planned to be spent on upgrading the gas distribution system," He, recalling that at that time, prices for final consumers were not reduced. And only in 2016, when the price of Russian gas at the border of Armenia decreased from $ 165 to $ 150, the agreement stipulated that gas prices for final consumers would decrease adequately - by 9.3 drams. Then in 2017, the Russian Gazprom initiated a tariff reduction of $ 15 (including VAT $ 19), which, according to the agreement, should be maintained also during 2018. As Garegin Baghramyan pointed out, today negotiations are underway to annul all of these provisions, since it is precisely because of these adjustments that the PSRC functions have been limited to the maximum for the last two to three years. At the same time, Russian Gazprom hopes that, following negotiations with the Georgian side, it will be possible to agree on a reduction in the transit price.