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Parliament speaker promises to set up commission to look into gas dealing
YEREVAN, February 6. / ARKA /. Armenian parliament chairman Hovik
Abrahamian promised today that an ad hoc parliamentary commission
would be set up to make an inquiry into the all issues concerning an
Armenian-Russian agreement whereby the government ceded its 20
percent stake in the national gas distribution company to Russian
Gazprom.
"I agree that we need to discuss all the issues related to this
agreement. We will set up an ad hoc commission very soon to look into
it,' he said today.
A proposal by the main opposition parties to set up such commission
was rejected by the parliamentary majority on February 4.
This and some other energy agreements were first signed during Russian
President Vladimir Putin's December 2 visit to Yerevan. One of them
also set the price of Russian natural gas for Armenia at almost $190
million per one thousand cubic meters.
Earlier energy and natural resources minister Armen Movsisyan said the
Armenian government sold its minority share in ARG to pay half of a
$300 million debt to Gazprom, which was incurred as a result of
subsidizing the Russian gas price from 2011-2013. The other half of
the debt was said to have been written off by the Russian company.
Gazprom was also granted 30-year exclusive rights in the Armenian
energy market.
Armenia does not have natural gas or oil gas reserves and its energy
sector depends entirely on imported fuel. In 2013 Gazprom delivered
1.96 billion cubic meters of gas to Armenia.
Under another Armenian-Russian contract the Russian monopoly will be
delivering 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Armenia across Georgia
until 2018. .-0-
- See more at: http://arka.am/en/news/economy/parliament_speaker_promises_to_set_up_commission_t o_look_into_gas_dealing/#sthash.hhLrtxx1.dpuf
YEREVAN, February 6. / ARKA /. Armenian parliament chairman Hovik
Abrahamian promised today that an ad hoc parliamentary commission
would be set up to make an inquiry into the all issues concerning an
Armenian-Russian agreement whereby the government ceded its 20
percent stake in the national gas distribution company to Russian
Gazprom.
"I agree that we need to discuss all the issues related to this
agreement. We will set up an ad hoc commission very soon to look into
it,' he said today.
A proposal by the main opposition parties to set up such commission
was rejected by the parliamentary majority on February 4.
This and some other energy agreements were first signed during Russian
President Vladimir Putin's December 2 visit to Yerevan. One of them
also set the price of Russian natural gas for Armenia at almost $190
million per one thousand cubic meters.
Earlier energy and natural resources minister Armen Movsisyan said the
Armenian government sold its minority share in ARG to pay half of a
$300 million debt to Gazprom, which was incurred as a result of
subsidizing the Russian gas price from 2011-2013. The other half of
the debt was said to have been written off by the Russian company.
Gazprom was also granted 30-year exclusive rights in the Armenian
energy market.
Armenia does not have natural gas or oil gas reserves and its energy
sector depends entirely on imported fuel. In 2013 Gazprom delivered
1.96 billion cubic meters of gas to Armenia.
Under another Armenian-Russian contract the Russian monopoly will be
delivering 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Armenia across Georgia
until 2018. .-0-
- See more at: http://arka.am/en/news/economy/parliament_speaker_promises_to_set_up_commission_t o_look_into_gas_dealing/#sthash.hhLrtxx1.dpuf