Tuesday, April 21 2020 14:23

ArmInfo.When the price of gas, which now applies for Armenia, Belarus, was two, three times lower than the market price, it was taken for granted, and no one  said that it was politics.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov  announced on April 21 during an online round table organized by the  Gorchakov Foundation, referring to gas prices for the EAEU countries,  especially given its current market price.  

<I believe that, of course, the allies should receive economic  advantages. I don't have any doubts in this issue. But if we have  already established price, there are some kind of contractual  obligations, however I am convinced that when considering the  appeals, which were received from the side of Belarusian and Armenian  friends, our allied relations, of course, are taken into account.   But, in any case it seems wrong to recall this only when the  situation becomes diametrically opposite to that which was 3-4 years  back in the period when the pricing mechanism was formed with full  regard for allied obligations, "the Russian minister emphasized.   Speaking specifically about Armenia, Lavrov, recalling that the RF  Ministry of Energy and Gazprom is dealing with this issue, noted that  one of the problems that has been chronic and has not been resolved  for several years is internal tariffs in Armenia. According to him,  such tarrifs make it difficult to apply the most preferential  approaches to pricing. However, he did not go into details on this  part.  "Well, if we are talking about alliance, then it should  probably be manifested in all areas. Speaking about the economy, the  lawsuits that began in Armenia over the recent couple of years  regarding joint ventures, including the South Caucasus Railway, will  be settled without any attempts to bring in things that are not  appropriate between the allies. I'm very frankly talking about this  because there are several difficult situations that Russian companies  have fallen into. And I hope that we will resolve all these issues to  mutual satisfaction, "the Russian Foreign Minister emphasized.  At  the same time, the Russian chief diplomat recalled the recent  telephone conversation between the President of Russia and the Prime  Minister of Armenia, assuring that the leaders of the two countries  see the ways of  the development of the Armenian-Russian strategic  alliance and assured that all issues on both sides will be resolved  in this vein. 

On April 9, Minister of Energy of Belarus Viktor Karankevich said  that Minsk was initiating the issue of lowering the price of Russian  gas for the republic in 2020 against the background of lower world  prices for energy resources, including natural gas.  Earlier,  Lukashenko said that Russian gas for the republic in the current  conditions should cost about $ 40-45 per 1 thousand cubic meters, not  $ 127 per 1 thousand cubic meters, as previously discussed. On April  5, Russian Ambassador to Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev noted that gas  prices on foreign markets are set based on the cost of oil, but if an  agreement is signed, it must be implemented.  Earlier, the Armenian  side also raised the issue of reducing gas prices for Armenia. In  particular, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan sent a  letter to Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller with a proposal to start  negotiations on reducing gas prices due to the negative impact of  coronavirus on the country's socio-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.

After that, Gazprom Armenia CJSC published a release on 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.  It should also be  noted that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during an online  conference on April 6 that he had discussed the issue of gas prices  during his last telephone conversation with Russian President  Vladimir Putin, and asked the latter to intervene in the negotiations  and help reduce the price of gas for the Armenian side.  Moreover,  Pashinyan also said that he suggested that the Russian side switch to  mutual payments for gas in rubles.