Armenia Insists on Lower Russian Gas Price

The Gazprom-Armenia company headquarters in Yerevan. (Source: Photolure)

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) ”” Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian on Thursday publicly pressed Armenia’s Russian-owned gas distribution network to help his government convince Russia to cut the price of its natural gas delivered to the South Caucasus country.

Abrahamian appealed to the Gazprom-Armenia operator three weeks after announcing that Yerevan is seeking a lower cost of Russian gas in view of the sharp drop in international oil prices. Russian-Armenian negotiations on the matter have yielded no agreement yet.

“The decrease in the volume of gas consumption [in Armenia] clearly shows that the [Gazprom-Armenia] company can have more earnings in case of lower prices,”