Interfax – Russia & CIS General Newswire
Monday 2:21 PM MSK
Pashinyan says decision on gas price made in phone call with Russian president
YEREVAN. Dec 31
Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he discussed gas supply in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
"The price of gas supplied to Armenia was the subject of our conversation. Actually, we can say that a decision has been made. The price paid by the population will not change in the near future," Pashinyan wrote on Facebook on Monday.
He underlined that the gas price was the only subject of his conversation with the Russian president.
There are two levels in gas supply to Armenia, Pashinyan said. The first level is the Russian company Gazprom, which supplies gas to Gazprom Armenia, and the second level is gas supply to consumers by Gazprom Armenia, he said.
Gazprom and Gazprom Armenia are due to review the gas price, which will rise a bit, Pashinyan said.
"However, the price will not change for Armenian consumers thanks to domestic adjustments," he said.
There may be public debates on the presumed accumulation of debts by Armenia, which might have to repay those debts with assets' transfer to Russia, he said.
This is out of the question, Pashinyan said. He added there would be no change for some time, and the issue would be discussed again when necessary.
Pashinyan and Putin met in Moscow on December 27. Pashinyan wrote on Facebook after the meeting that Armenia and Russia had failed to agree on the price of natural gas to be supplied to Armenia in 2019 and that "the discussion continued at a working level." "It has been noted that the subject is sensitive for bilateral relations," he said.