Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Despite Armenian Prime Minister's promises not to raise gas prices, the era of cheap gas has come to an end for Armenian citizens.

The end of the occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan could serve to establish relations with Baku and facilitate the conclusion of a gas contract at a more favorable price. However, the current Armenian authorities do not yet have enough common sense to realize this fact.

Armen Kotolyan, Head of Market Surveillance Inspectorate, informed about gas price increase. Answering the question of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a government meeting, he told that since May, gas price at auto stations is in the range of 250-310 drams (52-65 cents) per kilogram.

The official noted that when gas was sold in cubic meters earlier, it cost 210 drams (43 cents). After switching to a kilogram, its cost should have been 275 drams (57 cents), he added. He stressed that many household entities raise prices to the indicated 310 drams (65 cents).

The Armenian government adopted amendments to the Tax Code in February, suggesting that citizens will pay not for the volume of gas, but for its weight from April 1. The authorities promised that these amendments would not affect the gas price in any way.

However, in the first days, it became clear that the situation leaves much to be desired.

Local motorists photographed checks, proving that they paid more for gas. Many of the citizens claim that they face fraud at auto stations.

Kotolyan appealed to the State Revenue Committee on this issue, where he was provided with some clarifications. The Committee said earlier the station owners actually cheated on the price, formally sold gas at 200 drams (42 cents) per cubic meter, but the real price was 222 drams (46 cents), as they almost always didn’t fill it up. Now when it is no longer possible to "hack", gas stations owners’ raise the price in pursuit of super-profits, according to the Committee.

In turn, David Ananyan, the Committee head, noted that gas had risen in price earlier, and drivers simply did not notice. Ananyan also said that following the results of inspections held at gas stations, violations were drafted for 22 billion drams (more than $44 million). He added that the economic entities are now challenging these decisions in the courts.

In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said not only gas but also gasoline market has politically affiliated people with monopoly ambitions.

Pashinyan seems to have forgotten that his own country is under the Gazprom monopoly, which owns the entire gas distribution network in Armenia. Although Armenia also buys gas from neighboring Iran, Gazprom is still solely engaged in the gas distribution.

Gazprom’s monopoly position is connected with the fact that Armenia cannot buy cheaper gas from Iran. Due to the short-sighted policy of the authorities, Armenia itself has deprived the possibilities of diversifying gas supplies.

From January 1, 2019, the price of Russian gas for Armenia increased from $150 to $165 per 1,000 cubic meters.