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.
