YEREVAN. - The gas price is much lower in Armenia than in other countries, Ashot Tavadyan, Doctor of Economy and ex-chairman of the Supervisory Service of Armenia, told journalists April 11.

The average price for gas supplied to Armenia is Ђ267 or about $283 (the figure cited by Mr. Tavadyan - ed.) per 1,000 cubic meters, whereas it is Ђ280 in Romania, a gas producing country, and Ђ304 in Moldova, a gas transit country.

Tavadyan pointed out the following gas price forming factors in Armenia: U.S. $180 is paid to the gas supplier company Gazprom; the VAT and customs duty raise the price by about U.S. $47; gas losses cost an additional U.S. $11; the system depreciation accounts for another 15%. Thus, according to Mr. Tavadyan the ArmRusgasprom Company gets only U.S. $45 from 1,000 cubic meters. (Armenian News-NEWS.am is not responsible for the figures cited by Mr. Ashot Tadevodyan - ed.)

In his turn, Vardan Aivazyan,. Chairman of the Economic Committee, Parliament of Armenia, said that "this margin is not sufficient for getting super-profits."

"ArmRusgasprom is neither a villain nor Mother Teresa. It is an economic entity seeking profit," Aivazyan said.
Recently, at the request of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), the Armenian Parliament held a hearing on the best gas price. Although Armen Poghosyan, Chairman of the Union of Consumers, claims only one MP attended the hearing besides the ARF-D faction, it produced results. Specifically, the ARF-D faction and the Economic Committee arranged to set up a workgroup to study the gas system`s problems. One of the problems, is, according to Aivazyan, whether ArmRusgasprom has the right to cut gas supply "if a gas consumer fails to pay 5,700 AMD (U.S. $15) in time."