YEREVAN. – The debt of ArmRusgasprom to the Russian side for gas supplies amounting to $300 million is not an external public debt of Armenia, Energy Minister said.

On Wednesday Armen Movsisyan said that since April 2011 to the present day Armenia received gas at a price lower than Gazprom would set. Since 2011, the price difference between the old 180 dollars and the actual price, which Armenia had to pay, reached $300 million. This debt will be shared by Armenia and Russia equally.

Asked why the government takes 50 percent of the debt, though it so far owns only 20% of ArmRusgasprom shared, the Minister said: “It is the debt of our customers, and we decided to partially undertake it order to  support the citizens. But it is not the debt of the Armenian government.”

For this reason, he added, this debt is not reflected in the external balance of payments.