ArmInfo. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is making a working visit to Moscow, but it is natural that such visits lead to certain results. Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan made such a remark full of meaning after the Government meeting on March 10.
Commenting on the ongoing visit of the Armenian leader to Moscow, Kocharyan said that among other issues, the two presidents will discuss the Russian gas price for Armenia, in particular, to keep it at $165 per 1,000 cubic meters. As regards the Armenian Government's
appeal to the Russian authorities for a lower price of gas, Kocharyan said it is a subject of separate talks. "I am speaking about a short-term decision to keep the current price unchanged and launch talks for more favorable terms of gas import," he said.
Earlier today, the Armenian Government approved an intergovernmental protocol, under which the Russian gas price will be left unchanged - $165 per 1,000 cubic meters - until March 31 2016. The Government approved a draft suggestion to leave the entire additional profit for Q1 2016 to Gazprom Armenia "to cover the damage caused by the AMD/USD exchange rate fluctuations and help Gazprom return its investments in the assets of Gazprom Armenia." Otherwise, the deputy minister of energy and natural resources Iosif Isayan said, the country would have to recompense that damage by increasing the gas price, which would affect the electricity price too.