Khandanyan does not rule out Azerbaijani gas supplies to Armenia 

ArmInfo. Sargis Khandanyan, a member of the ruling "Civil Contract" party and candidate for Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations,  has stated that he does not rule out the possibility of importing natural gas from Azerbaijan to Armenia. 

Speaking to journalists during an August 11 briefing, Khandanyan  addressed questions regarding potential moves by Armenia if Russia  were to revise its natural gas tariffs. He noted that any such  adjustments would be addressed through friendly discussions with  Russian partners, while emphasizing that diversification remains a  critical priority for Armenia's energy sector.

In this context, Khandanyan suggested that Armenia could leverage the  infrastructure of a future gas pipeline routed through its territory  under the TRIPP project. "I am expressing theoretical thoughts, but  it is not difficult to implement all of this in practice," Khandanyan  said, He also recalled the recent visit of Minister of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructure David Khudatyan to Iran, where one  of the key discussions was the possibility of increasing Iranian gas  supplies to Armenia. 

Recall, in April, then-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen  Simonyan threatened to withdraw the country from the CSTO and the  EAEU if Russia suddenly decided to raise gas prices for Armenia. In  response, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council  Konstantin Kosachev called the Speaker's reasoning incorrect. He  recalled that during talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan on April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin provided a  clear picture of the current situation: "Energy prices, gas prices in  Europe are skyrocketing to over $600 per 1,000 cubic meters, while  Russia sells gas to Armenia at $177.5 per 1,000 cubic meters. It  would be fair and honest for Armenian politicians to take this scale  of Russia's support for Armenia into account, rather than speculating  on hypothetical changes in pricing policy," he concluded. 

Note, in June, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin stated that  Armenia's withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) would  threaten citizens with a nearly quadrupling of gas prices. At the  same time, Mesrop Mesropyan, head of the Public Services Regulation  Commission (PSRC) of Armenia, said that if Russian gas prices rise,  Armenia will not face the severe crisis that occurred in the 1990s,  when the country faced rolling blackouts. According to him, the price  increase will impact the cost of electricity, approximately 30-35% of  which is generated by thermal power plants. "This could equally  impact the price of electricity," Mesropyan noted, adding that  everything has a cost.