Newspaper: Gazprom Armenia CEO explains new price for Russian gas
YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. The new price for Russian natural gas in Armenia makes it possible to compensate for the losses Gazprom Armenia has incurred on devaluation of the Armenian dram, Gazprom Armenia CEO Vardan Harutyunyan said in an interview with Golos Armenia.
A protocol ordering decrease of the basic price for 1,000 cubic meter of the Russian gas brought to Armenia from $189 to $165 was signed yesterday in Moscow.
Harutyunyan said that the negotiating parties had been guided by the following principle – to ward off adverse impacts on Armenia's economy on one side, and on the other side, let Gazprom Armenia CJSC carry out the necessary work to ensure proper and trouble-free operation of gas supply system.
In his words, $165 is an optimal price that allows solving both problems.
He stressed that Gazprom Armenia is a subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom, but the company is registered in Armenia and is a resident organization which transfers taxes to Armenia's government budget.
«And Armenia will benefit from the fact that natural gas prices at Armenia's domestic market will not be raised,» Harutyunyan said in his interview.
He said development of generating capacity and power-consuming industries will allow curbing further price rice.
The Gazprom Armenia CEO added that the company had implemented substantial investment programs since 2013, after the present price had been set.
«It is natural that all these nuances were reflected in the price in a strict conformity with the price-making mechanism functioning in the country,» he said.
Harutyunyan said if the entry price was not lowered to $165, the company would ask the Public Services Regulatory Commission to authorize another revision of the current price, which would take into account the circumstances mentioned above and some other factors impacting price-making process, such as increase in prices for raw materials, conformity with quality standards, necessary expenses related to operation etc.
«This explains the circumstance that the decrease of wholesale price was not followed by any lowering of the final consumer price,» he said.
Haruryunyan hopes that the company will end this year with profits.
«We get a chance to end a year with profits for the first time,» he said. «Before that, the company sometimes worked with profits, but there profits, as a rule, came from currency exchange rate fluctuations, not from industrial activity,» he said. «But this is just a forecast, and many things depend on further developments at the foreign exchange market.» ---0----
A protocol ordering decrease of the basic price for 1,000 cubic meter of the Russian gas brought to Armenia from $189 to $165 was signed yesterday in Moscow.
Harutyunyan said that the negotiating parties had been guided by the following principle – to ward off adverse impacts on Armenia's economy on one side, and on the other side, let Gazprom Armenia CJSC carry out the necessary work to ensure proper and trouble-free operation of gas supply system.
In his words, $165 is an optimal price that allows solving both problems.
He stressed that Gazprom Armenia is a subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom, but the company is registered in Armenia and is a resident organization which transfers taxes to Armenia's government budget.
«And Armenia will benefit from the fact that natural gas prices at Armenia's domestic market will not be raised,» Harutyunyan said in his interview.
He said development of generating capacity and power-consuming industries will allow curbing further price rice.
The Gazprom Armenia CEO added that the company had implemented substantial investment programs since 2013, after the present price had been set.
«It is natural that all these nuances were reflected in the price in a strict conformity with the price-making mechanism functioning in the country,» he said.
Harutyunyan said if the entry price was not lowered to $165, the company would ask the Public Services Regulatory Commission to authorize another revision of the current price, which would take into account the circumstances mentioned above and some other factors impacting price-making process, such as increase in prices for raw materials, conformity with quality standards, necessary expenses related to operation etc.
«This explains the circumstance that the decrease of wholesale price was not followed by any lowering of the final consumer price,» he said.
Haruryunyan hopes that the company will end this year with profits.
«We get a chance to end a year with profits for the first time,» he said. «Before that, the company sometimes worked with profits, but there profits, as a rule, came from currency exchange rate fluctuations, not from industrial activity,» he said. «But this is just a forecast, and many things depend on further developments at the foreign exchange market.» ---0----