YEREVAN. – The Iranian gas has to be at least ten percent cheaper than the Russian gas so that it would be beneficial for the Armenian side to purchase it, Director General of Gazprom-Armenia CJSC Grant Tadevosyan said during the meeting of commission dealing with gas prices.

According to Tadevosyan, the Iranian gas calorific value per thousand cubic meters is 7,900 kilocalories, while the same value of the Russian gas it is not less than 8,200.

“That is, when it is burned, more heat is generated. Therefore, if Russian gas costs $ 150 per thousand cubic meters, Iranian gas, with other things being equal, should cost $ 135 for it to be profitable,” he said.

At the same time, he added that this issue, in principle, is the subject of negotiations of the governments.

According to the Armenian-Russian agreements, the basis calorific value off Russian gas should be 7,900 kilocalories per thousand cubic meters. At the same time, if the calorific value is higher, an additional factor will have to be added to the existing tariff. However, for Armenia this rule is temporarily not valid until the end of 2018 only.

The Armenian government is negotiating with the Russian colleagues over the price of gas after 2018.