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ARMENIA: CITIZENS FEELING GOUGED BY HIGH COST OF RUSSIAN GAS
EurasiaNet.org
Jan 24 2014
January 24, 2014 - 12:44pm, by Marianna Grigoryan
Armenia is experiencing a Russian-style winter this year, and despite
Yerevan's plans to join the Moscow-led Customs Union, consumers are not
catching a break when it comes to the cost of Russian gas. Instead,
the price of Russian gas imports has risen 18 percent over last year,
a development that is stoking public anger with the government's
decision to cast its economic lot with the Kremlin.
With temperatures dropping as low as -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit),
many Armenians have been hit with whopping gas bills that are
wreaking havoc with their monthly budgets. Based on interviews by
EurasiaNet.org with representatives of 30 separate families paying
their gas bills at Yerevan post offices, the average December gas bill
for a family of four stood at between 50,000-60,000 drams ($123-$148)
- roughly an increase of over 40 percent from last year. Officially,
an average monthly income stands at 150,960 drams per month, or $370.
"I kept potatoes in my kitchen, and I used to grow flowers there;
they all are frozen now, and I must give my entire pension [25,000
drams or $61] to pay for the small amount of gas I've used," said
one elderly woman, wallet in hand, waiting to pay her gas bill in a
Yerevan post office.
Back in early December, before the cold spell set in, supporters of
President Serzh Sargsyan's administration painted a different scenario
- one in which Yerevan's September decision to join the Customs Union
would ensure that citizens reaped significant economic benefits.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a December visit to Armenia,
reinforced that impression with a pledge that Armenians would be
paying Russian "domestic prices" for gas. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller
made a similar promise. But no Russian official ever provided details,
and the gas price never decreased, instead it has gone up.
At present Armenia pays $189 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas
received at its border; consumers, however, pay a far higher price -
158,000 drams, or $391, per 1,000 cubic meters, an 18-percent increase
from the past.
Many customers cannot believe their eyes when they see their gas
bills, said one Yerevan post-office employee, who asked not to be
named. "They repeatedly ask whether the final sum is correct," she
said. "Some get mad and start cursing the authorities. Others leave
in silence, without paying, and ask for installment-plan options."
Naira Zohrabian, head of the parliamentary faction of the opposition
Prosperous Armenia Party, said workers are being pushed to the economic
brink. "I was shocked to see the bills I had to pay" - 67,000 drams
($166) for gas in December, she said. "My salary is comparatively high
(245,000 drams or about $605). ... I cannot imagine how people earning
a salary of 40,000-50,000 drams (roughly $98-$123) pay such amounts."
As popular anger grows over high gas bills, representatives of the
governing Republican Party of Armenia have remained largely silent.
Some have simply advised citizens to skimp. "Everybody should think
about being economical, despite their income level," said MP Manvel
Badeian, who claims he himself received a 300,000-dram (over $740)
gas bill for December.
Sneers generally greet such statements.
"What economy are they talking about? Are they mocking us? With the
temperature 20 degrees below zero, and three small kids at home, is
it normal to pay 60,000 drams [$148] for a single gas heater?" asked
39-year-old Marat Martirosian, a construction worker in Yerevan.
"Should we turn off the heater and let our children freeze?"
One middle-aged Yerevan taxi driver, who declined to give his name,
agreed. "They said gas will become cheaper when we join the Customs
Union, and people will live better, but if they go on like this,
nobody will stay in this country," he said. "They gave everything to
the Russians. Why don't they respond to the people now?"
The Republican Party's parliamentary faction head, Galust Sahakian,
brushed off public complaints, and also emphasized the need to
economize. People would be even angrier if there were no gas at all,
he told the news site Yerkir.am on January 14. "People now are in
such a situation that they try to find someone to blame, and they
are blaming the government for this," Sahakian said.
For their part, opposition leaders appear more focused on the
government's controversial pension-reform plan. Arman Musinian,
spokesperson for the Armenian National Congress, the country's largest
opposition coalition, said that "discussions about our steps are
being held at the moment." The coalition views "all issues as part
of an integral whole," he said.
Political analyst Manvel Sarkisian, director of the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies, believes the potential exists for
public anger over gas prices to boil over. "If a powerful grassroots
movement were launched, perhaps opposition parties would unite in
light of current developments," he said. "There is a chance for that
at the moment."
Editor's note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67976
EurasiaNet.org
Jan 24 2014
January 24, 2014 - 12:44pm, by Marianna Grigoryan
Armenia is experiencing a Russian-style winter this year, and despite
Yerevan's plans to join the Moscow-led Customs Union, consumers are not
catching a break when it comes to the cost of Russian gas. Instead,
the price of Russian gas imports has risen 18 percent over last year,
a development that is stoking public anger with the government's
decision to cast its economic lot with the Kremlin.
With temperatures dropping as low as -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit),
many Armenians have been hit with whopping gas bills that are
wreaking havoc with their monthly budgets. Based on interviews by
EurasiaNet.org with representatives of 30 separate families paying
their gas bills at Yerevan post offices, the average December gas bill
for a family of four stood at between 50,000-60,000 drams ($123-$148)
- roughly an increase of over 40 percent from last year. Officially,
an average monthly income stands at 150,960 drams per month, or $370.
"I kept potatoes in my kitchen, and I used to grow flowers there;
they all are frozen now, and I must give my entire pension [25,000
drams or $61] to pay for the small amount of gas I've used," said
one elderly woman, wallet in hand, waiting to pay her gas bill in a
Yerevan post office.
Back in early December, before the cold spell set in, supporters of
President Serzh Sargsyan's administration painted a different scenario
- one in which Yerevan's September decision to join the Customs Union
would ensure that citizens reaped significant economic benefits.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a December visit to Armenia,
reinforced that impression with a pledge that Armenians would be
paying Russian "domestic prices" for gas. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller
made a similar promise. But no Russian official ever provided details,
and the gas price never decreased, instead it has gone up.
At present Armenia pays $189 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas
received at its border; consumers, however, pay a far higher price -
158,000 drams, or $391, per 1,000 cubic meters, an 18-percent increase
from the past.
Many customers cannot believe their eyes when they see their gas
bills, said one Yerevan post-office employee, who asked not to be
named. "They repeatedly ask whether the final sum is correct," she
said. "Some get mad and start cursing the authorities. Others leave
in silence, without paying, and ask for installment-plan options."
Naira Zohrabian, head of the parliamentary faction of the opposition
Prosperous Armenia Party, said workers are being pushed to the economic
brink. "I was shocked to see the bills I had to pay" - 67,000 drams
($166) for gas in December, she said. "My salary is comparatively high
(245,000 drams or about $605). ... I cannot imagine how people earning
a salary of 40,000-50,000 drams (roughly $98-$123) pay such amounts."
As popular anger grows over high gas bills, representatives of the
governing Republican Party of Armenia have remained largely silent.
Some have simply advised citizens to skimp. "Everybody should think
about being economical, despite their income level," said MP Manvel
Badeian, who claims he himself received a 300,000-dram (over $740)
gas bill for December.
Sneers generally greet such statements.
"What economy are they talking about? Are they mocking us? With the
temperature 20 degrees below zero, and three small kids at home, is
it normal to pay 60,000 drams [$148] for a single gas heater?" asked
39-year-old Marat Martirosian, a construction worker in Yerevan.
"Should we turn off the heater and let our children freeze?"
One middle-aged Yerevan taxi driver, who declined to give his name,
agreed. "They said gas will become cheaper when we join the Customs
Union, and people will live better, but if they go on like this,
nobody will stay in this country," he said. "They gave everything to
the Russians. Why don't they respond to the people now?"
The Republican Party's parliamentary faction head, Galust Sahakian,
brushed off public complaints, and also emphasized the need to
economize. People would be even angrier if there were no gas at all,
he told the news site Yerkir.am on January 14. "People now are in
such a situation that they try to find someone to blame, and they
are blaming the government for this," Sahakian said.
For their part, opposition leaders appear more focused on the
government's controversial pension-reform plan. Arman Musinian,
spokesperson for the Armenian National Congress, the country's largest
opposition coalition, said that "discussions about our steps are
being held at the moment." The coalition views "all issues as part
of an integral whole," he said.
Political analyst Manvel Sarkisian, director of the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies, believes the potential exists for
public anger over gas prices to boil over. "If a powerful grassroots
movement were launched, perhaps opposition parties would unite in
light of current developments," he said. "There is a chance for that
at the moment."
Editor's note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67976