A difficult situation may arise in Armenia related to gas, and Russia does not want that to happen. This was announced by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk in an interview with Pavel Zarubin.

“They [Armenia] just have to look at the map and see which pipelines are still operational. And they will immediately see where they will get Russian gas, taking into account the 30% export duty, because that will be the market price. Because middlemen will also want to get their share of the profits. Therefore, the situation in Armenia will become very complicated. We don’t want that,” said the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.

The journalist also asked Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev whether Armenia can get rich without cheap Russian gas. “Well, let them try, it’s their choice. But so far, the structure of their economy shows that they are experiencing significant GDP growth, thanks in part to cheap Russian energy resources. Let them try to replace it with European ones, and we will see what will happen,” Tsivilev told Zarubin.

At the EAEU summit held in Astana on May 29, the leaders of the member states issued a joint statement, in which, among other things, they called for a referendum in Armenia as soon as possible on joining the EU or remaining in the EAEU.

Earlier, after the EAEU summit held in Astana, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Armenia could lose 14% of its GDP if it leaves the EAEU.

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