Armenia may lose preferential gas prices from Russia: Russian Foreign Ministry

Yerevan’s reconsideration of the status of its allied relations with Moscow could lead to Armenia losing preferential prices for Russian gas, Mikhail Kalugin, director of the Fourth CIS Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“We have an extensive treaty and legal framework with Armenia that enshrines the privileged, allied status of our bilateral relations. If the Armenian authorities want to revise this status as part of the ‘diversification’ of their foreign policy, that is their right. But then they will also have to give up the preferences that Moscow provides only to its allies. One example of such preferences is the gas price,” Kalugin said.

The diplomat stressed that Russia has no objection to Armenia buying gas from other countries, since this option is stipulated in the 2013 Russian-Armenian “gas” agreement.
According to him, Armenia will not find terms as favorable for gas purchases anywhere else as those Russia offers today.

“Obviously, Yerevan will not find terms anywhere as favorable as those Russia offers today. It will have to buy gas at the market price, which will create new holes in the budget. Brussels, for example, has no money for any ‘subsidies’ – all its funds are going to support Zelensky’s nazi regime. And even if they do come up with something, it will be loans that increase Armenia’s debt burden, which, given the republic’s current level of public debt, is already, to put it mildly, not small,” Kalugin said.