AZG Armenian Daily #059, 01/04/2006

Economy

ROGER ROBINSON: NEW GAS TARIFFS WILL HAVE NO AWFUL
IMPACT

Roger Robinson expressed this opinion in response to
the question put by the journalists at yesterday~Rs
press conference. He said that the World Bank experts
haven~Rt completed researches on the future impact of
the new gas tariffs on the Armenian economy yet. He
added that the negotiations of RA Government with the
Russian side of the abovementioned issue haven~Rt
completed either. At the same time, he expressed the
opinion that certainly, the increase in tariffs for
gas will have some impact on the economy of Armenia,
but that will not be that awful as some people expect.

Naturally, it will have negative impact on socially
insecure class and the prices for some goods. The rise
in tariffs will not have big impact on the industrial
sector, as the industrial companies will apply
economical energy regimes.

Robinson also stated that the rise in gas tariffs
would have no impact on the prices for imported goods,
either.

By Ara Martirosian