ArmInfo.The issue of gas prices has been the subject of political speculation for many years. On April 6, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this during online questions and answers.
According to him, in the past, the Armenian government used the issue of gas prices for political purposes, not taking into account the economic components, and that is why today's authorities have what they have.
"Today we are faced with the task of efficiently using the gas system. I would like to recall that Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan has already appealed Gazprom's management with a proposal to revise the gas price and lower it for the Armenian side," the prime minister recalled.
At the same time, Pashinyan emphasized that he raised this issue during today's telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing the conviction that raising prices in today's crisis and from a humanitarian point of view will cause difficulties. According to him, he invited the Russian leader to intervene, negotiate and come to a common solution in this matter. The head of government also added that they are proposing to the Russian side that they switch to rubles for gas purchases, which would be logical from the point of view of membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. He expressed hope that the negotiations would be successful.
Last week, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan sent a letter to Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, with a proposal to begin negotiations on reducing gas prices due to the negative impact of coronavirus on the country's social and economic development. At the same time, Yerevan offers Moscow the opportunity to pay in national currency. Armenia buys gas from Russia at $ 165 per 1,000 cubic meters, while Armenian consumers pay Gazprom Armenia $ 290 per 1,000 cubic meters.
The very next day, Gazprom Armenia CJSC published a release about plans to apply to the Public Services Regulatory Commission with a proposal starting July 1 to increase the tariff for subscribers who consume up to 600 cubic meters of gas per year who are eligible for family or social benefits, from 100 to 135,9 thousand drams. It is proposed to lower the price for subscribers using up to 10 thousand cubic meters of gas annually from 139 to 135.9 thousand drams.