Iran to Provide Armenia with Additional Gas Under New Agreement

Recent reports indicate that following the signing of a memorandum on economic cooperation in the energy sector between Armenia and Iran, both official Yerevan and Tehran have announced that the volumes of gas flowing from Iran to Armenia will double.

This encouraging announcement has resulted in excitement among Armenian citizens, who are optimistic about a potential change in gas rates, while officials are touting it as a significant achievement of the era.

However, as clarified by the "Zhoghvorud" newspaper, the increased gas volumes are linked to a new hydroelectrical power station coming online. Economist Suren Parsyan explained in an interview that, according to the gas agreement signed in 2006, Armenia pays 3 kWh of electric power for every cubic meter of gas imported from Iran. This program was solely implemented by the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant until this year, when a new power station built by the company "Renko" joined in.

We also learned that increased imports of natural gas will result in Armenia providing more electric power to Iran. Thus, Iran is supplying Armenia with additional gas not to alleviate the social condition of its citizens, but solely to activate the new power station.