Expert: The era of exclusive prices for Russian gas for Armenia ends

ArmInfo. The era of exclusive prices for Russian gas for Armenia ends. Deputy Director of the Educational Foundation "Noravank" Ara Marjanyan adheres to a  similar point of view, commenting at the request of ArmInfo on the  possibility of raising the price for Russian "blue fuel" from $ 150  to $ 165 per 1,000 cubic meters.

According to the expert, over the past 20 years, Armenia has been  receiving Russian gas at one of the lowest prices in the world. This  was made possible by the entry of the republic into the Eurasian  Economic Union (EAEU) and strategic allied relations with the Russian  Federation. "If it were not for this introduction, the cost of gas  would be much higher, with all the ensuing consequences." Another  question that requires separate consideration is how Armenia used  capital generated in the past 20 years to the sum of about $ 100  million, said Ara Marjanyan.

He also expressed doubts about the possibility of increasing the gas  tariff on the domestic market of the republic, while not excluding  the scenario in which the price of gas for the country's final  consumers may be slightly increased for the industrial sector. "The  problem is that, based on pricing mechanisms, everyone knew about the  upcoming changes in gas prices, but it is not clear how this will  affect the final consumer," said Ara Marjanyan.

He also expressed doubts about the possibility of acquiring Iranian  gas at a price of $ 160 per 1 thousand cubic meters. "Tehran has  never and never officially announced the cost of its gas, this issue  is not recorded in any official document," the expert stressed.  

To recall, yesterday Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, answering  journalists' questions, said that Yerevan is continuing negotiations  on gas prices with the Russian side in order to achieve long-term  solutions. "What a failure, what kind of failure are you talking  about?", Pashinyan responded, commenting on the opinion of network  users on social networks, who called the increase in gas tariff "a  failure of the new authorities". "We continue to negotiate in order  to achieve long-term solutions.  We cannot consider the price of gas  in a political context, we will continue negotiations and express our  point of view and will do everything to protect the interests of our  country," Pashinyan said.  Speaking about the recent increase in the  price of Russian gas for Armenia at the border, Pashinyan reiterated  that this fact will not affect the tariff for the end user.  Earlier,  the press service of "Gazprom" reported that from January 1, 2019 the  price of Russian gas for Armenia was revised. It will be $ 165 per  thousand cubic meters. The Armenian side paid $ 150 per thousand  cubic meters for Russian gas at the border. Domestically, the  consumer is already paying $ 290 dollars per thousand cubic meters of  gas, large subscribers who consume more than 10,000 cubic meters paid  $ 242, and greenhouses and processing plants $ 212.