ArmInfo.Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan believes that fixing gas prices in rubles would be a great success, including in the context of solving the problems of exporters.
On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Central Bank of Russia and the government to determine within a week the procedure for making payments for gas supplies to Europe in rubles. He noted that the decision to sell gas for the national currency concerns unfriendly countries, and Russia has the right to conduct economic relations with other states according to the previous rules. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan stated that the issue of payment for Russian gas in rubles is being discussed in Armenia.
"There are two issues on the gas issue - pricing and the nominal exchange rate. If we fix the price in rubles, it will be a great success," Kerobyan said at a briefing on March 24.
According to him, at present, Armenian exporters do not have confidence in the stability of the ruble. In this regard, they avoid specifying the price of the exported goods in rubles. "If we have a fixed price for gas in rubles, then this will make it possible to provide our exporters with a fixed ruble exchange rate through reverse deals," he explained.
For example, as the head of the Ministry of Economy pointed out, in cases where the goods are exported, and payment for it must be received after two months, the exporter's bank will be able to recalculate in drams at a predetermined rate. "This will give confidence to domestic exporters in the future," he said, adding that they suffered considerable losses due to receivables.
It should be noted that on March 21, the head of the SRC, Rustam Badasyan, said that from February 24 to March 17, Armenian exports to the EAEU recorded a decline of 36%.
