Upper Lars was closed due to weather conditions, but now it has reopened, there are already supplies, and the liquefied gas price will start to fall probably in a few days. Gegham Gevorgyan, Chairman of the Commission for the Protection of Competition and Consumer Rights, told this to reporters after the Cabinet meeting of the government Thursday—and referring to the recent liquefied gas deficit and sharp increase in prices in Armenia.

“More than 100 economic entities supply liquefied gas in Armenia, none of them even exceeds the 10% threshold; that is, the field is highly competitive, and theoretically no one can abuse their dominant position. Moreover, the law prohibits any process against any economic entity with a share below 10% worldwide. If the field is highly competitive and all economic entities can compete with each other; that is, there is no large economic entity that can create an artificial deficit, create a problem, it means no structure dealing with competition issues can intervene,” Gevorgyan said.

The chairman of the aforesaid commission added that they are now studying the market in detail. “[Liquefied] gas was being supplied [to Armenia] from the Russian Federation, and it had not come, it was little; that is why those people who had a small amount of [liquefied] gas had raised the price of their gas,” he said, in particular.