YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: In the near future, the army of the unemployed in Armenia will be complemented with several thousand.

There is mass downsizing at Gazprom Armenia CJSC. The company's news service clarified: "It is envisaged to lay off about 1,000 employees, which will be carried out in phased option, with proper compliance with the requirements of the RA Labor Code. (…).”

The reason for the downsizing is the newly approved [natural gas] tariff, which is lower than the one Gazprom Armenia had submitted by in its petition.

Primarily the inspectors—about 7-8 hundred people—will be downsized; other administrative employees, too.

The employees told us that the salaries and bonuses also will be reduced, which was confirmed by the company, too: "(…) there has been a need (…) to reduce the amount of remuneration of all employees by 20%."