168 Zham: Armenia’s gas debt secret comes to light
12:33 – 07.12.13
The paper has published a comprehensive analytical article describing
the “secret” behind Armenia’s $300 million natural gas debt to the
Russian Gazprom.
`It is now becoming clear that Hayrusgazard (Gazprom’s Armenian
affiliate) purchased gas for a higher price but actually paid less. So
it was in debt. According to the SRC’s (State Revenue Committee)
Customs Committee, the price for the Russian gas increased to $240 per
100 cubic meters in mid-2011. And the debt has been growing since
then. The data at hand give hints as to how the debt was generated.
`Some 776.5 million cubic meters of gas were imported in the second
half of 2011. And because the de facto money paid was $180 instead of
$240, there is now an accumulated debt of $46.6 million. But the gas
price was declared unchanged throughout this period.
`The year 2012 was entirely a period of deception. The gas price was
declared $180; so exactly that much was paid, leading to a debt of
$118 million.
`The deception continued until April 2013. In the first quarter of
this year, gas was bought for $240, but only $180 was paid. A debt of
$40 million was accumulated in the first quarter.
`The deception stopped in April. The gas price was declared to have
surged to $270 on the border. But Hayrusgazard apparently keeps paying
$189. The remaining part had to be subsidized by the government. But
it wasn’t in fact. In the second and third quarters of this year, a
debt of $49 million was accumulated.
Hence, the period between April 2011 and September 2013 saw
Hayrusgazard accumulate a debt amounting to $253 million.
If we add to this the amount of gas purchased in October and November
(they have not been made public yet, but will likely be about 350-400
cubic meters considering the previous years’ dynamic), the debt will
turn out to be $290 million, exactly as much as [Minister of Energy
and Natural Resource] Armen Movsisyan had announced.’
Armenian News – Tert.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
