By Asbarez | Thursday, 16 January 2014
The deal will cede complete control of Armenia's gas infrastructure to Russia's state-run gas company, Gazprom
YEREVAN (Arka)—At its Thursday meeting, Armenia’s government approved an agreement to cede its 20 percent stake in ArmRosgasprom – the join Armenian-Russian company that operates Armenia’s gas infrastructure – to Russia’s Gazprom.
According to the agreement, Armenia’s ministry of energy will hand over its 20 percent of shares to Gazprom, increasing the Russian state-run company’s share from 80 percent to 100 percent.
The deal was laid out in an agreement signed between Armenian and Russian presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Vladimir Putin on Dec. 2, 2013, Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Energy Yosif Isayan said.
The Armenian parliament ratified the deal at its sitting on Dec. 23, 2013, amid great controversy and opposition objection that lead to disorder and procedural confusion.
On Dec. 2, it was revealed that the sale was part of a deal to write off $300 million of debt that the Armenian government owed to Russia as a result of the Sarkisian administration secretly subsidizing Russian gas prices from 2011 to 2013.
Under the new agreement, the Russian gas monopoly will be supplying 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Armenia from 2014 to 2018. The price of that gas will be determined by a formula which is used to determine prices for domestic consumers in Russia. In 2012, Gazprom supplied 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas to Armenia.
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