Russia raises gas price for Armenia by 10%
From January 1, 2019, the price of Russian gas for Armenia will be raised to $165 per thousand cubic meters, the press service of Gazprom reported on Monday.
The new price is 10% higher than the price established by the agreement of April 2016.
“In accordance with the supplementary agreement signed to the contract between Gazprom Export LLC and Gazprom Armenia CJSC, determining the price of gas supplies to Armenia in 2019, the price of Russian gas will be $165 per one thousand cubic meters at the border of Georgia and Armenia from January 1, 2019," Gazprom stated on its official website.
Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the increase will not affect domestic prices for gas consumers.
“Yesterday I had two telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. We spoke about the price of gas supplied to Armenia. In fact, we can say that we found a solution, at least for the nearest future… Gazprom Armenia and Gazprom should review the price of gas supply. There will be some changes in this price, and there will be a certain increase in it. However, thanks to our internal regulations, gas prices will not change for Armenian consumers,” Armenpress quoted Pashinyan as saying.
At the beginning of April 2016, Armenia and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement, according to which Russia lowered the price of natural gas supplied to Armenia (at the border) from $ 165 to $ 150 per thousand cubic meters. This agreement expires on December 31, 2018.
Gazprom Armenia CJSC, a 100% subsidiary of PJSC Gazprom, supplies gas to the domestic market of Armenia. The company also conducts transportation, storage, distribution and sale of gas, reconstruction and expansion of the gas transmission system and underground storage facilities in the republic.
The gas price in Armenia is 139 thousand drams per thousand cubic meters (about 8 UAH per cubic meter) for subscribers who consume less than 10 thousand cubic meters a month.