Armenia to pay $180 per one thousand cubic meters of natural gas

YEREVAN, November 19, /ARKA/. Armenian energy and mineral resources minister Armen Movsisyan said today Russia’s Gazprom is set to decrease the price it charges for gas supplied to Armenia. He said the price for Armenia will be $180 as of April 2010, down from the originally planned $200.

The price of Russian gas for Armenia rose from $110 to $154 per one thousand cubic meters in April and was expected to rise to $200. The new price for Armenia, VAT not included, will be $169.5, the minister said.

The minister said negotiations with Gazprom had been over. He also brushed aside reports in some Russian newspapers claiming that Russia reduced the price in return for being granted the right to build a new reactor for

Armenian nuclear power plant. According to the minister, these reports have nothing to do with gas price.

Gazprom is the main supplier of gas to Armenian. It holds 80% in the joint Russian-Armenian ArmRosGazprom venture, Armenia’s national gas operator, the 20% are held by the Armenian government.

Armenia plans to build a new nuclear power plant to replace its aging Metsamor plant. The new plant is supposed to operate at twice the capacity of the older, Soviet-constructed facility, which is 30 kilometers west of the capital, Yerevan. Metsamor currently generates some 40 percent of Armenia's electricity. 

The Armenian government has yet to attract funding for the project that is estimated to cost as much as $5 billion. M.M. -0-