Serj Sargsyan Must be Prosecuted for the Gas Deal With Russia 

Serj Sargsyan must be convicted for the ‘gas’ agreement he signed with Russia in 2013, states Daniel Ionnisyan of the Union for Informed Citizens NGO on his Facebook. Ionnisyan’s post is translated below.

“I’m reading the Armenia-Russia gas agreement of 2013 and I realized that no exit and solution is left out of it. We can neither buy cheaper gas from Iran (and set this cheap price as a basis for the utility cost), nor can we demand Gazprom to supply us with a gas at a more acceptable price… there is no way out.

The agreement signed by Serj Sargsyan’s government is something that Armenia is obliged to abide by until 2043 and whatever price the Kremlin sets, we have to pay for that price if we want to consume the blue fuel.

Serj Sargsyan handed over the right to set the price of gas in Armenia for 30 years without any strings attached. This is a situation where with the exception of pleading with the Russians, Nikol Pashinyan’s government has been left with no leverage. Honestly, I don’t know what needs to be done.

The only clear thing is that Serj Sargsyan must be prosecuted not for stealing diesel, but for signing this agreement. The future of our state has never been so bleak in the years of the independence as with this act.

Ps. In April, the gas supplied to Europe cost on average 59 USD per 1000 cubic meters, while if cost 165 USD to Armenia. If Putin sets his foot on the wrong side tomorrow and he decides to make 165, let’s say 500, thanks to Serj Sargsyan we will be unable to say anything (until at least 2043).”