10:00, 11 September 2010

Armenian Prime Minister confirms increase of Russian gas tariffs in 2011

At the moment, Russian and Armenian parties are in negotiations on fixing new higher gas tariffs. According to Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan, within two months the Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) "ArmRosGazprom" - supplier of Russian gas to Armenia - will make a statement on the outcomes of the consultations held.

According to Mr Sarkisyan, the government has already instructed the top managers of the "ArmRosGazprom" to take into account, when drafting its tariff policy, social interests of the population, which will again face the problem of growing tariffs.

Andrei Kruglov, Chairman of the Board of the "Gazprom" Company, said that in 2011 his company is going to finally switchover to market-oriented pricing with the countries, which have been using so far privileged rates of gas supply - Armenia, Belarus and Moldova. Mr Kruglov has explained that the switchover means that these countries will have to pay under European tariffs. According to the forecast of the "Gazprom", this year the average tariff on the gas sold to Europe will make about 308 US dollars per 1000 cubic meters.

Author: Lylyt Ovanisyan

Source: CK correspondent