ArmInfo. Starting from August 1, 2018 gas tariff will be by 20 AMD lower for socially unsecured groups of the population in Armenia, consuming less than 600 cubic meters of natural gas per year. The privilege will be valid for 12 months.
As the press service of CJSC "Gazprom Armenia" informs, the company decided to sell natural gas to socially disadvantaged groups of the population at a tariff lower than that established by the Armenia's Public Services Regulatory Commission. The benefit will apply to unsecured families that consume less than 600 cubic meters of natural gas per year. These consumers from August 1, 2018 to August 1, 2019 will pay for gas at a price of 80 drams instead of the previous 100 drams for each used cubic meter of natural gas.
To note, Armenia today receives Russian gas at a price of $ 150 per 1 thousand cubic meters, however the price for consumer is $ 290. Earlier, on June 8 it was reported that at the initiative of the Armenian government for the socially unsecured groups of the population, the tariff for electricity will be reduced by 10 drams. Head of the Armenian Ministry of Energy Artur Grigoryan stated at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers that about 110-120 thousand citizens will benefit. According to him, currently the risks are high for launching general revision of tariffs. The first risk relates to the excessive delay of preventive works at the Nuclear Power Plant. There are risks for reducing gas tariffs, due to the price of "blue fuel" at the border. He also said that an agreement has been reached with the Tashir Group, which owns the Electricity Networks of Armenia, that the tariff reduction will be compensated at the expense of its income. To recall, on November 30 last year, the Armenian government approved for signing a protocol on amending the agreement with Russia on the formation of prices for the supply of natural gas. According to the document, Russian "Gazprom" delivers gas to Armenia at a price of $ 150 for 1 thousand cubic meters from January 1 to December 31, 2018, but this did not affect final consumers. Since January 1, 2017, the following tariffs were established in the country: for subscribers consuming less than 10 thousand cubic meters per month -139,000 drams ($ 292) per 1,000 cubic meters, and for socially unsecured families using less than 600 cubic meters annually-100 thousand drams ($ 210) per 1 thousand cubic meters.
