In 2006 First Quarter Price for Gas Imported to Armenia to Remain $56 for Thousand Cubic Meters

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia has managed to achieve a temporary price compromise in talks with Gazprom. As reported by the ArmRosgazprom press office, the parties agreed that in the first quarter of the year the price for the gas imported to Armenia will remain $56 for a thousand cubic meters. Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan announced a possibility of postponing change of tariffs for Armenia. Further talks will show what the price will be after April 1. Gazprom has already announced its intention to raise the price up to $110. In the near future, talks on the issue will be held in Moscow by Presidents of Armenia and Russia -Robert Kocharian and Vladimir Putin. At present, Head of ArmRosgazprom, the exclusive supplier of gas to Armenia, Karen Karapetyan is in the Russian capital.



Meanwhile, as Rossiyskaya Gazeta states, some analysts indicate the following reason for Russia's pragmatic approach: "Armenia is a member to WTO as a transitional economy. The status envisages implementation of favorable prices for energy products for it, conservation of its foreign debt and prolongation of repayment terms, and rejection of limits on selling goods from transitional countries. Similar preferences are given to Armenia within frameworks of the EU European Neighborhood Policy." At the same time, as the paper runs, the Iranian gas will cost not more than $95 for Armenia and Georgia. "With such an emphatic dumping, the European Union recommended in early January to raise imports of energy products from Azerbaijan, Iran, Central Asia and Maghrib countries, and the idea has been recently supported by the USA," writes the newspaper, reported IA Regnum.