Monday, May 4 2020 14:57

ArmInfo.Russia is a strategic partner of Armenia. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan stated this on May 4 in an interview with reporters.

He noted that the agenda of these relations is very broad. ''If we  had no problems at all, it would be very strange. There are certain  issues on which we are discussing, working in the same rhythm as the  recent two years. The issue related to the price of gas is very  important for us. And we will continue to discuss this issue'',  Mnatsakanyan emphasized.

To note, on April 21 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov touching  upon the gas issue stated 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. To recall, earlier the  Armenian side 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 from 139 to 135.9 thousand drams for  subscribers using annually up to 10 thousand cubic meters of gas. 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.