Wednesday, December 4 2013

 Russian gas tariff will not change for the Armenian consumers, Head of the President's Administration Vigen Sargsyan told reporters.  According to Sargsyan, the agreements signed in the course of Vladimir Putin's visit to Armenia on 2 December will allow Armenia not to increase the tariff for consumers for 5 years. Meanwhile, the head of the Republican Party of Armenia Faction in the Parliament assured reporters a day ago that following the sale of ArmRusgasprom's 20% shares to Russia, the gas tariffs for the population would be reduced. 

To recall, the Russian and Armenian presidents signed a number of agreements canceling gas export tariffs for Armenia. This will reduce the gas price for Armenia to 189 USD per 1000 cu m. By another agreement, Gazprom increased in shares in ArmRusgasprom from 80% to 100%. 

Vigen Sargsyan said that the gas price inside the country will neither increase nor decrease, as, from the very beginning, the tariff fixed in the contract was by 30% higher than the one that was taken as a basis of the tariff for the Armenian consumers. 

"That is, the tariff for the population was based on the import price of 189 USD per 1,000 cu m and not 270 USD. The increase in the gas price laid additional burden on the budget of Armenia, which was recompensed with transfer of ArmRusgasprom's 20% shares to Russia," he said. 

He explained that the Government's 20% in ArmRusgasprom CJSC were transferred to Russia to "compensate the difference between the gas tariff on the border and the tariff for consumers." To recall, starting July 2013 the gas tariff for consumers is 156,000 drams per 1,000 cu m instead of the previous 132.000 drams.