Author: Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan, exclusively to VK
"Gazprom"’s subsidiary "ArmRosgasprom" addressed to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with the proposal to revise the price for natural gas sold to consumers. Instead of the current 132 thousand drams ($ 1 = 415 drams) per thousand cubic meters of gas the company offers to fix the price at 221 thousand drams. It is related to the increase in the 64-65%. The gas supplied to entrepreneurs will also become more expensive - instead of the current 243 drams per one cubic meter the rate of 392 drams, i. e. higher by 62%, is proposed.
The last time the price of Russian gas for Armenia was increased on April 1, 2010. The decision about the next revision of the tariffs will be made within three months, and the increase is expected by 1 September.
Media reports about another increase appeared in the summer of 2012. It was indirectly confirmed by President Serzh Sargsyan, who, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, in August last year, said that the price of gas has to be connected to the reality of the market value, comparable with regional rates. But then, in order to avoid social tensions on the eve of the presidential elections in Armenia, the parties agreed that the prices would rise after the election.
According to the spokesman of "ArmRosgasprom" Shushan Sardaryan, the increase in gas prices is due to changes in customs tariffs and inflation. "In 2010, the dollar was 386 drams. Today, it rose to 416. Gas prices in Armenia, compared to prices in other CIS countries, are considered exclusive, we have a relatively low price. Armenia in this sense is second only to Belarus", Sardaryan said.
The head of the "Alternative" research center, economist Tatul Manaseryan thinks that in parallel with the increase in gas prices price not only for food but also for electricity, transportation and other services will raise. The PUC has already started the process of revising electricity tariffs. If various state agencies will conduct the necessary activities comparable to the monetary policy, the inflation will be a maximum of 1-1.5%; otherwise, this figure will reach 3%. Manaserian does not exclude that inflation will increase the scale of migration.
Chairman of the Consumers' Association of Armenia Armen Poghosyan is sure that the increase in gas prices will see an increase in prices for essential commodities and undermine a number of industries, such as cement production.
Future increase in gas prices caused a wave of indignation in the Armenian society, which is interested neither in the fact that the increase was expected, nor in the fact that it is based on inflation or on the changes in customs tariffs. At the initiative of a group set up on Facebook, "Let's nip gas price hike", a protest rally in front of the Armenian government was organized. Participants of the rally, which included members of the opposition party "Dashnaktsutiun" "Sardarapat" organization and civil initiatives, required to reconsider the decision to raise tariffs, saying that it is fraught with the disappearance of the middle class and rising inflation. Head of the department for letters, requests and complaints by citizens of the government Alexander Ghazaryan noted that "the demands of the demonstrators coincide with the wishes of the government", and the latter will make every effort so that rise in price will be minimal.
Indeed, the government has responded remarkably quickly. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan sent a letter to the chairman of the PUC: "In the letter, we can state that the government subsidizes 30% of the price of gas. I want to inform our citizens that socially vulnerable families will receive assistance, and higher gas prices will not affect their family budget negatively."
According to some reports, for the citizens of Armenia, whose monthly consumption up to 10 thousand cubic meters, the prices will be higher by 35%, and every 1000 cubic meters will be sold for 180 thousand drams instead of the current 132 thousand.
Today, "Gazprom" gas supplies to Europe are on average at 415 dollars per 1000 cubic meters. The same price applies to Ukraine. The other countries of the CIS buy gas at $ 200-300.
If we consider the issue of raising tariffs by Russia for its strategic ally from a commercial point of view, there is somewhat strange picture.
After the previous increase in gas prices in 2010, some villagers started to use wood instead of gas. According to the press-secretary of the PUC Mariam Stepanyan, "gas consumption was reduced by reason of the fact that in many villages, despite the gasification, people prefer to use wood instead of gas for heating." And this in a country where the rate of gasification is more than 90%!
Obviously, the increase in gas prices in Armenia, where there is more than one-third of the poor people, will not give commercial advantage to "ArmRosgazprom" which is automatically associated with Russia. It turns out that the answer lies in the political arena. Perhaps Russia took up the "gas cudgel," because the strategic ally is in no hurry to fulfill any obligations taken on. Some Armenian experts believe that this step shows Russia's desire to "drive Armenia into a corner in joining the Customs Union." In this case, the actions of Russia are quite logical: putting pressure on the leadership, which will feel the outrage of the public. But in Armenia any statement about raising gas prices provokes anti-Russian sentiment. During the years of independence, a new generation grew up in Armenia, which, due to objective factors, is remote from Russia, and the use of "gas cudgel" enhances this process.
