The interim parliamentary committee for inquiring into the gas deals with Russia will hold its first meeting early next week, Naira Zohrabyan, Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Faction, said on Thursday.
She said that the PAP will suggest including Gurgen Arsenyan and Mikayel Melkumyan in the committee staff.
To note, the committee will include 4 MPs from the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Faction, 2 MPs from the PAP Faction, and the other factions will have 1 representative each. Media outlets say that MP from the RPA, Head of the Armenian Standing Parliamentary Commission for State and Legal Affairs David Harutyunyan is most likely to head the gas committee.
To recall, on Feb 26 the Armenian Parliament approved the initiative to create an interim parliamentary committee for inquiring into the latest gas deals with Russia.
To note, the gas agreements with Russia, particularly, the rise in gas tariffs for Armenia's citizens and the sale of Armenia's 20% stake in ArmRusgasprom to Russia have caused indignation of the Armenian public. As a result, the opposition forces of the Parliament decided to set up an interim committee to study the current situation. The ruling coalition rejected the opposition's suggestion but later made a similar suggestion.