At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, the government of Armenia approved the proposal to sign a protocol on amendments to the agreement with the Russian government on the sale and purchase of the shares of ArmRosGazprom company and the terms of future activities.

According to the respective substantiation, the draft protocol being prepared for signing envisages payment of $31.79 million a year to Gazprom Armenia company as an annual capacity payment for the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant's 5th power unit belonging to this company.

Due to the incomplete operation of this power unit, the investments made by Gazprom not only were not repaid, but the loans increased to about $100 million.

The implementation of the conditions defined by the aforesaid protocol will contribute to the reopening of the aforesaid 5th power unit, as well as will create an opportunity to keep the price of Russian natural gas being supplied to Armenia stable—at $165 per 1,000 cubic meters—for ten years.