Wednesday, November 15 2017 19:00

ArmInfo. The deal to sell a 20% stake in ArmRosgazprom to Russian Gazprom was logical. The former head of ArmRosgazprom CJSC, and now the Prime Minister of the Republic of Karen Karapetyan, adheres to this point of view.

Answering the question of Tigran Urikhanyan, a deputy from the Tsarukyan bloc, on the amount of the Armenian budget, if the deal did not take place, the Prime Minister stressed that by the time the company was sold for $ 300 million, the price was in line with market conditions. When selling, two factors were taken into account: the value of the property and the expected income. As of today, the shareholder of Gazprom Armenia - PJSC Gazprom - has not received a single cent in the form of dividends. Moreover, over this period it invested about $ 1 billion in the development of the gas sector of Armenia. The gasification level was raised to 96% from 18%, the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline was built, the 5th block of the Hrazdan TPP was built, and the volumes of the gas stored in the underground gas storage increased from 60 million cubic meters to 150 million cubic meters. In addition, Gazprom's investments have significantly increased the level of security of the entire energy system of the country. From the point of view of energy security, Armenia today, according to international experts, is more than half the countries of the European Union. Those dividends, according to Karen Karapetyan, which Armenia received from this deal more than many can imagine. On January 16, 2014, the Armenian government approved an agreement on sale and purchase of the shares of ArmRosgazprom CJSC. According to the Armenian-Russian agreement on the purchase and sale of the shares of the closed joint-stock company "ArmRosgazprom" and the terms of its further activity signed on December 2, 2013, by January 17, 2014, the Armenian government must ensure the conclusion of a 20% purchase and sale agreement "ArmRosgazprom" CJSC was awarded a contract to the RA Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, with the money received from "Gazprom" after signing the contract, the Armenian government compensates "ArmRosgazprom" for the difference between the actual price of gas purchases from ArmRosGazprom from Gazprom Export LLC and the price approved by the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission when calculating the tariff for natural gas. Today, Gazprom Armenia is a 100% subsidiary of PJSC Gazprom, ensuring supply and sale of natural gas in the domestic market of the Republic of Armenia.