The government’s initiative to make gas cheaper for consumers doesn’t follow ulterior purposes.

Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan said the aforementioned at the meeting with journalists in Karabakh on Saturday, referring to the hearsay that this is a temporary initiative, which is carried out in the framework of the ruling party’s election campaign. He assured that his only aim is to activate the economy.

Karapetyan noted that several factors contributed to the fall in gas price: possible transit price drop in Georgia, since the agreement ends on January 1, the reduction of Gazprom Armenia’s loan load and the experience in increasing the market and entries through gas price reduction.  

“And the last factor is that the Gazprom founder said he would take care of our financial risks for market stability and growth considerations,” the PM said.

Asked about Gazprom Armenia’s motivation, Karapetyan said there is no secret here either; this is a merely business logic.

“We sat at a negotiation table with Gazprom Armenia as businessmen. As a Prime Minster, I am interested in giving maximal advantage to business, but I can’t do this at the expense of some company, since that is the same as choking one company, it being unclear whether I am thereby improving the other’s condition. I told them they have an issue with increasing the market. We made a logical proposal and now it is important how the market will respond,” he said.

According to Karapetyan, if the market grows and Gazprom Armenia sees that the market is responding, it will continue the experiment.  “As a Prime Minister I’m interested in a long-lasting experiment. I wish Gazprom to achieve success too so that it doesn’t regret. Everything is quite simple. There is no secret here,” he said.