Gazprom Armenia Employee Deceives Blogger Lapshin: Alarm Raised

Journalist and blogger Alexander Lapshin has recounted an incident that occurred in Yerevan on his Facebook page.

"Friends, I found accommodation in Yerevan before the New Year. Moreover, it’s still unclear, but we have a roof over our heads for the next three months. Thanks to the kind people—the apartment owners—who responded and helped. However, I will spend only about a month in Yerevan during these three months, and the rest of the time I will be traveling in Europe. Yerevanians, I have a question regarding gas. The fact is that no one has lived in the apartment I’m moving to for a long time. Gazprom Armenia's gas service has removed the meter and disconnected the gas. Consequently, there is no hot water, and the gas stove does not work. At the same time, there are no debts for the gas, and it is unclear why the meter was removed.

Five days ago (on Thursday), I contacted the gas workers, requesting to reconnect the gas. They said a technician would come and make the connections.

Yesterday, a technician came, a rather gloomy guy, clearly disgruntled with life. He asked if I was renting the apartment. I said yes. He asked if I had come due to mobilization. I responded that he should focus on his job and that I could understand why I was there without him. The technician fiddled with something for a long time and eventually said he had forgotten some tool and would return the next day at 10 AM. I said fine, I would wait.

As he was leaving, the technician asked me for 10,000 drams, supposedly for the gas connection services. I asked if he would give me a receipt for the payment. He mumbled in annoyance, ‘If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to, but that’s the rule.’ He also mentioned he would check the gas stove and BAXI, and if something was wrong there, nothing would be connected at all.”

I asked my Yerevan acquaintances if one had to pay 10,000 drams to reconnect the gas; everyone said no, it was the first I had heard of it. Well, perhaps the technician decided that I was a “simpleton” Russian whom he could deceive. It is already 10:30 AM, and no one has arrived yet. In any case, I have set up a small camera that films from my pocket; if he asks for money again, I will make him a star on YouTube.

It’s interesting how much he would be willing to pay to prevent that video from appearing online and to avoid being dismissed from Gazprom Armenia. I think his monthly salary is around 200,000-250,000 drams; that’s how much I will ask for, and I will donate the money to refugees from Artsakh. The main thing is for him to continue not recognizing me and for him to end up in front of the camera.

It should be noted that Gazprom Armenia responded to this post and requested to be provided with an address and phone number.