The Armenian government is optimistic about maintaining the current price for imported gas from Russia for the next 8 years.
"I believe there are good prospects to keep the current gas price, at least for the next 8 years, unless there are sharp geopolitical and market changes globally," said Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Akop Vardanyan during a meeting of the permanent committee of the National Assembly of Armenia on Eurasian and regional integration on March 11.
Reminding that concerns about a possible increase in the price of gas imported from Russia for Armenia have been voiced over the past five years, Deputy Minister Vardanyan pointed out that the price has remained stable. In this regard, he expressed hope that the price of Russian gas for Armenia will remain unchanged until 2031.
However, according to Akop Vardanyan, sharp fluctuations in gas prices in the global markets will negatively affect Armenia.
"If international gas prices stabilize at $3,000, it will be unlikely to maintain the gas price for Armenia at $165. However, we have seen that when the gas price in international markets reached $2,000-3,000, the price of gas in Armenia remained the same," he explained, adding that the goal of the Armenian authorities is to maintain the current gas price or even reduce it if corresponding signals come from the markets.
"Gazprom" is the sole supplier of natural gas to Armenia through its subsidiary "Gazprom Armenia," which also manages the gas transportation network in the country. The price of Russian gas for Armenia is $165 per 1000 cubic meters. Last year, Armenia spent $414 million on purchasing gas from Russia and $270 million on oil products.
Armenia also imports gas from Iran in exchange for electricity through a barter scheme. However, the volumes of gas imported from Iran are significantly lower compared to those from Russia - approximately between 365 to 400 million cubic meters annually.
