Gas tariffs also have a political price – Alen Simonyan

ArmInfo. Gas tariffs also have a political price. Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan told reporters this.

In this regard, he emphasized that the Republic of Armenia no longer intends to depend on a single pipeline, a needle, someone's whim, leverage, etc. - diversification will take place, according to him, in all sectors of the economy.

Simonyan recalled that Armenia continues to adhere to the position that, with four neighboring states, it is ready to consider a proposal for gas transit supplies from a fifth state.

Noting that the country is an independent state, and its government is formed by the decision of the people, Simonyan noted that there is no conflict that could be used to generate political processes or to direct them in a desired direction. "The Republic of Armenia will defend its sovereignty. Incidentally, our Russian partners also say that this is our sovereign right. And we accept what they say," the Security Council Secretary said.

When asked whether the country would make concessions to maintain the current gas price, Simonyan emphasized that Armenia has not and will not cede its interests. "Armenia has its own political course and decisions," he noted.

It should be noted that several months ago, it became known that Yerevan received a letter from Moscow regarding the possible unilateral denunciation of the agreement on the supply of natural gas, petroleum products, and rough diamonds. The letter states that if Armenia continues its EU accession process, Russia may suspend or unilaterally denounce the agreement between the governments of Russia and Armenia of December 2, 2013, on cooperation in the supply of natural gas, petroleum products, and rough diamonds.

As a reminder, Russia supplies gas to Armenia at a price of $177.50 per 1,000 cubic meters. Meanwhile, the cost of natural gas for most EU countries is approximately $600.

As a reminder, on April 4, then-Speaker of the Parliament Alen Simonyan threatened to withdraw the country from the CSTO and the EAEU if Russia suddenly decided to raise the price of gas for Armenia.

In this regard, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev called the RA NA 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.