On 20 January, the Armenian government stated that Armenia's national natural gas distributing company Gazprom Armenia will not raise its retail prices for households and corporate consumers in 2020, reported arka.am. "The price of gas at the border in 2020 will not increase," the government wrote on Facebook.
Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said that he does not expect the gas prices to rise in early 2020, but also expressed concerns over the possibility a price increase after 1 April 2020. ″Discussions are now going on, which have yet to be summarized. I do not see any reason for such a bid at the moment. But we may not rule out that possibility after April 1,″ he told reporters. He pointed to three factors which could potentially influence the gas tariffs: the transit price on the border, the regular expenditures and the investment programs. “Investments are thought to be indispensable for organizing the safe, unhampered and efficient delivery of gas across Armenia. There are investment-related plans as that deals largely with security and efficiency. Gazprom Armenia may have its say when it comes to investments. The issue will be considered in an open and transparent environment should such a problem ever emerge,” he added.
On 17 January, the head of Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) Garegin Baghramyan stated that Gazprom-Armenia would likely ask the PSRC to allow it to raise the price of natural gas.
Earlier, Gazprom Export LLC and Gazprom Armenia CJSC signed an additional agreement to the contract for the supply of Russian gas to the Republic of Armenia. In accordance with the agreement, from January 1, 2020, the gas price on the border of Georgia and Armenia will remain at the 2019 amount.
On December 31, 2018 Russia's Gazprom raised the price of natural gas it ships to Armenia across Georgia from $150 per one thousand cubic meters to $165. Fifteen dollars of the price is compensated by Gazprom-Armenia. In 2018, Gazprom supplied 1.94 billion cubic meters of gas to Armenia. Gazprom’s Armenian subsidiary - Gazprom Armenia - sells it to the bulk of Armenian households at almost $300.
