Armenia's Energy sector

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Նոր մանրամասներ «Հայռուսգազարդի» 20 % բաժնեմասի վաճառքից
Սամվել Ավագյան

http://hetq.am/arm/articles/31995/nor-manramasner-hayrusgazardi-20--bazhnemasi-vatcharqic.html

15 հունվարի, 2014
Հայաստանի Հանրապետության կառավարությունը հունվարի 16-ի նիստում ներառել է «Հայռուսգազարդի» բաժնետոմսերի 20 %-ը «Գազպրոմին» վաճառելու հարցը: Առաջին անգամ հրապարակվել է նաև ՀՀ էներգետիկայի և բնական պաշարների նախարարության և «Գազպրոմի» միջև կնքվելիք պայմանագրի տեքստը: Հարցը կառավարության նիստում պետք է քննարկվի հետևյալ տեսանկյունից՝ թույլ տալ էներգետիկայի և բնական պաշարների նախարարությանը ՀՀ անունից բաժնետոմսեր վաճառել «Գազպրոմին»: Ի սկզբանե նախատեսված է եղել, որ ՀՀ էներգետիկայի և բնական պաշարների նախարարությունն իր անունից կկնքի պայմանագիրը, որպես կատարումն 2013 թվականի դեկտեմբերի 2-ին Երևանում ստորագրված՝ «Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Կառավարության և Ռուսաստանի Դաշնության Կառավարության միջև «Հայռուսգազարդ» փակ բաժնետիրական ընկերության բաժնետոմսերի առուվաճառքի և հետագա գործունեության պայմանների մասին» համաձայնագրի: Ըստ այդ համաձայնագրի՝ պայմանագիրը կողմերի միջև պետք է կնքվի մինչև հունվարի 17-ը: Սակայն ՀՀ ֆինանսների նախարարությունն առարկել է՝ էներգետիկայի եւ բնական պաշարների նախարարությունը նման պայմանագիր կարող է կնքել միայն կառավարության լիազորությամբ, այլապես չի կարող հանդես գալ ՀՀ անունից: Այդ առարկության հետևանքով էլ հարցը հայտնվել է կառավարության նիստի օրակարգում:

Հրապարակված պայմանագրի տեքստի համաձայն՝ «Գազպրոմին» վաճառվելու է 12,6 մլն հատ սովորական անվանական բաժնետոմս(յուրաքանչյուրը՝ 5026,5 դրամ արժեքով), որը կազմում է «Հայռուսգազարդի» հիմնադիր կապիտալի 20.0007 %-ը: Այսպիսով՝ Հայաստանի կողմից վաճառվող գույքի արժեքը կազմում է 63,3 մլրդ դրամ (մոտ 155 մլն դոլար):

Պայմանագրում հատուկ նշվել է, որ վաճառքը պետք է իրականացվի այնպես, որ «Գազպրոմը» դառնա բաժնետոմսերի 100 % սեփականատեր: Եթե դա ինչ-ինչ պատճառներով տեղի չունենա, ապա ՀՀ կառավարությունը պարտավորվում է ետ գնել իր բաժնետոմսերը ու փոխհատուցել «Գազպրոմի» վնասները: Պայմանագրի այս դրույթի դեմ առարկել է ՀՀ ֆինանսների նախարարությունը: Ըստ այդ առարկության՝ Հայաստանը պետք է վաճառի իր գույքը, ոչ թե պարտավորվի ապահովել «Գազպրոմի» համար 100% բաժնեմաս: Ներկայացնենք ֆինանսների նախարարության առարկությունը. «...անհասկանալի է, թե նախարարությունը` որպես վաճառող կողմ, ինչու պետք է ապահովի «Գազպրոմ» ԲԲԸ-ի 100 տոկոս բաժնետեր լինելու պայմանը: Նշվածի ռիսկայնությունը կայանում է նրանում, որ եթե ինչ-ինչ պատճառներով «Հայռուսգազարդ» ՓԲԸ-ի բաժնետոմսերի քանակն ավելանա, ապա նախարարությունն իր վրա պարտավորություն կվերցնի` 63 333 900 000 ՀՀ դրամով հետ գնելու վաճառված բաժնետոմսերը»:

Սակայն այս առարկությանը էներգետիկայի եւ բնական պաշարների նախարարությունը պատասխանել է, որ այսպիսի դրույթ նախատեսված է դեկտեմբերի 2-ի համաձայնագրով:

«Հայռուսգազարդի» հիմնադիր կապիտալը գնահատված է 316.65 մլրդ դրամ (մոտ 800 մլն դոլար):

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Kocharian Again Slams Government Over Gas Deals

Emil Danielyan
Հրապարակված է՝ 17.01.2014

http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/25233705.html

Former President Robert Kocharian on Friday reaffirmed his criticism of the Armenian government’s controversial energy agreements with Moscow and its secret subsidizing of the price of natural gas supplied by Russia.

In that regard, Kocharian shrugged off through his office Energy Minister Armen Movsisian’s claims that those agreements are more beneficial for Armenia than deals which he had cut with the Russians while in office.

Movsisian singled out on Wednesday a so-called “assets-for-debt” deal that was signed in November 2002. It granted Russia ownership of Armenia’s largest thermal power plant and four other state-run enterprises in payment for Yerevan’s $100 million debt to Moscow.

In a statement, Kocharian’s office argued that key terms of the 2002 settlement were worked out by a Russian-Armenian intergovernmental commission that was co-headed by then Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian and a Russian deputy prime minister. It said that Movsisian, who has served as energy minister since 2001, was also a “key participant of the process.”

“Robert Kocharian continues to believe that the [2002] agreement was good and beneficial and that the intergovernmental commission did a good job. Judging from his interview, Movsisian has rethought the evaluation of the work done by him and his personal contribution to that agreement,” the statement said scathingly. It poured scorn on Movsisian’s “selective memory.”

Speaking to Tert.am, Movsisian implied that Kocharian has no moral right to deplore the secret subsidies, effectively acknowledged by the Armenian government late last year, because the ex-president himself sold energy assets to Russia’s Gazprom giant to prevent gas price hikes. The minister pointed to a complex Russian-Armenian energy accord that was signed in 2006. It gradually raised Gazprom’s share in Armenia’s ARG gas distribution network to 80 percent and gave the Russian monopoly control over a gas pipeline from Iran that was being constructed at the time.

Gazprom paid at the time almost $250 million to buy an incomplete thermal power plant located in the central Armenian town of Hrazdan. The Kocharian government used the bulk of that money for subsidizing domestic gas prices.

Kocharian’s office said that the ex-president’s administration paid those subsidies openly and transparently, unlike the current government that denied until recently that Gazprom sharply raised its gas tariff for Armenia in 2011. The government ceded its 20 percent share in ARG to Gazprom to clear a $300 million debt incurred as a result of the secret subsidizing.

Russian-Armenian agreements signed last December also granted Gazprom 30-year privileges in the Armenian energy market. In particular, the current and future authorities in Yerevan will not be allowed to raise taxes paid by the Gazprom-owned distribution network or take any other measures that would narrow its profit margins.

Kocharian described these concessions as “shocking” in remarks posted on his unofficial website on Monday. The criticism was part of his intensifying war of words with Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisan over the government’s economic policies. Signaling his return to politics, the ex-president also launched thinly veiled attacks on Serzh Sarkisian, his successor and erstwhile political ally.

Movsisian and some senior members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), notably Education Minister Armen Ashotian, have hit back at Kocharian this week in a sign of the Sarkisian administration’s concerns about his possible comeback. The latest statement released by Kocharian’s office slammed Ashotian as well.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

17.01.14
ArmRosgazprom renamed ‘Gazprom Armenia’ after Russian takeover

http://www.armenianow.com/economy/51424/armenia_gazprom_gas_deal_russia

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Armen Movsisyan, Armenia’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources have signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement for the remaining 20 percent of ArmRosgazprom’s shares. The document was signed in the Gazprom headquarters in Moscow on Thursday “in furtherance of the intergovernmental Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia”, a Gazprom press release said.

As a result of the deal, Gazprom’s ownership stake in ArmRosgazprom was increased to 100 percent. The company will be named Gazprom Armenia.

“This deal fully complies with the spirit of strategic cooperation between Russia and Armenia. Gazprom has been successfully cooperating with Armenian partners in many areas and for many years. We have implemented large-scale projects both in main gas transportation and power generation. But above all, Armenia has achieved a major socially important result – we reached the gasification level of 96 percent.

Another key area of our cooperation is the NGV (natural-gas-vehicle) sector. Armenia has even more CNG filling stations than Russia. We all have something to learn from our Armenian colleagues.

“Gazprom has always been and will remain a reliable partner for Armenia,” said Alexey Miller.

____________
NB: the comany's name was HAY-RUS-GAZ-ART, which in English must have been ARM-RUS-GAS-PROD, and not Prom...

[Mher]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Armenia: Citizens Feeling Gouged by High Cost of Russian Gas
January 24, 2014 - 12:44pm, by Marianna Grigoryan

Armenia is experiencing a Russian-style winter this year, and despite Yerevan’s plans to join the Moscow-led Customs Union, consumers are not catching a break when it comes to the cost of Russian gas. Instead, the price of Russian gas imports has risen 18 percent over last year, a development that is stoking public anger with the government’s decision to cast its economic lot with the Kremlin.

With temperatures dropping as low as -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit), many Armenians have been hit with whopping gas bills that are wreaking havoc with their monthly budgets. Based on interviews by EurasiaNet.org with representatives of 30 separate families paying their gas bills at Yerevan post offices, the average December gas bill for a family of four stood at between 50,000-60,000 drams ($123-$148) – roughly an increase of over 40 percent from last year. Officially, an average monthly income stands at 150,960 drams per month, or $370.

“I kept potatoes in my kitchen, and I used to grow flowers there; they all are frozen now, and I must give my entire pension [25,000 drams or $61] to pay for the small amount of gas I’ve used,” said one elderly woman, wallet in hand, waiting to pay her gas bill in a Yerevan post office.

Back in early December, before the cold spell set in, supporters of President Serzh Sargsyan’s administration painted a different scenario – one in which Yerevan’s September decision to join the Customs Union would ensure that citizens reaped significant economic benefits. Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a December visit to Armenia, reinforced that impression with a pledge that Armenians would be paying Russian “domestic prices” for gas. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller made a similar promise. But no Russian official ever provided details, and the gas price never decreased, instead it has gone up.

At present Armenia pays $189 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas received at its border; consumers, however, pay a far higher price – 158,000 drams, or $391, per 1,000 cubic meters, an 18-percent increase from the past.

Many customers cannot believe their eyes when they see their gas bills, said one Yerevan post-office employee, who asked not to be named. “They repeatedly ask whether the final sum is correct,” she said. “Some get mad and start cursing the authorities. Others leave in silence, without paying, and ask for installment-plan options.”

Naira Zohrabian, head of the parliamentary faction of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party, said workers are being pushed to the economic brink. “I was shocked to see the bills I had to pay” – 67,000 drams ($166) for gas in December, she said. “My salary is comparatively high (245,000 drams or about $605). … I cannot imagine how people earning a salary of 40,000-50,000 drams (roughly $98-$123) pay such amounts.”

As popular anger grows over high gas bills, representatives of the governing Republican Party of Armenia have remained largely silent. Some have simply advised citizens to skimp. “Everybody should think about being economical, despite their income level,” said MP Manvel Badeian, who claims he himself received a 300,000-dram (over $740) gas bill for December.

Sneers generally greet such statements.

“What economy are they talking about? Are they mocking us? With the temperature 20 degrees below zero, and three small kids at home, is it normal to pay 60,000 drams [$148] for a single gas heater?” asked 39-year-old Marat Martirosian, a construction worker in Yerevan. “Should we turn off the heater and let our children freeze?”

One middle-aged Yerevan taxi driver, who declined to give his name, agreed. “They said gas will become cheaper when we join the Customs Union, and people will live better, but if they go on like this, nobody will stay in this country,” he said. “They gave everything to the Russians. Why don’t they respond to the people now?”

The Republican Party’s parliamentary faction head, Galust Sahakian, brushed off public complaints, and also emphasized the need to economize. People would be even angrier if there were no gas at all, he told the news site Yerkir.am on January 14. “People now are in such a situation that they try to find someone to blame, and they are blaming the government for this,” Sahakian said.

For their part, opposition leaders appear more focused on the government’s controversial pension-reform plan. Arman Musinian, spokesperson for the Armenian National Congress, the country’s largest opposition coalition, said that “discussions about our steps are being held at the moment.” The coalition views “all issues as part of an integral whole,” he said.

Political analyst Manvel Sarkisian, director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies, believes the potential exists for public anger over gas prices to boil over. “If a powerful grassroots movement were launched, perhaps opposition parties would unite in light of current developments,” he said. “There is a chance for that at the moment.”

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67976

[Hakob]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

U.S. company buys Armenian power plants in $250 million deal
YEREVAN | Wed Jan 29, 2014 1:55pm EST

YEREVAN (Reuters) - U.S. power company ContourGlobal said it will acquire three hydroelectric power plants in Armenia in a $250 million deal.

The company said it had bought the Vorotan Hydro plants for $180 million and planned to invest an additional $70 million, making it the largest single U.S. private investment in the Caucasus country of 3.8 million.

The deal may decrease Armenia's dependence on Russia, Yerevan's main trading partner and biggest foreign investor which is due to boost its control over the country's natural gas infrastructure.

The Vorotan Hydro Cascade complex is a series of three hydroelectric power plants totalling 405 megawatts on the Vorotan river in southern Armenia.

It accounts for about 15 percent of Armenia's power capacity and provides energy for 250,000 homes.

A long-term power purchase agreement was signed on Wednesday between ContourGlobal and the Armenian government.

The agreement says the company will invest $70 million over the next six years in a refurbishment program to modernize the plants and improve their performance and safety.

Armenia plans to join a customs union led by its former Soviet master Russia and has approved a deal under which the Russian state gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) will take over full ownership of its subsidiary ArmRosgazprom, by acquiring the remaining 20 percent of shares from Armenia.

Russia has invested $3 billion in the country with a GDP of $9.9 billion in 2012, according to the World Bank.

(Reporting by Hasmik Mkrtchyan; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by David Evans)

[Mher]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Iran to allocate $2m for construction of gas-distribution station


Iran to allocate $2m for construction of gas-distribution station

Iran will allocate $2 million for construction of a gas-distribution station of the cities of Meghri and Agarak in Armenia. The agreement was signed by the Armenian and Iranian governments in December 2011.

The Armenian side will pay for delivery of goods, provision of services, and import of goods, the press office of the government said.

The program was approved at the government session today.

http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2014/03/19/iran-armenia-gov/

[Artashes]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Iran to allocate $2m for construction of gas-distribution station


Iran to allocate $2m for construction of gas-distribution station

Iran will allocate $2 million for construction of a gas-distribution station of the cities of Meghri and Agarak in Armenia. The agreement was signed by the Armenian and Iranian governments in December 2011.

The Armenian side will pay for delivery of goods, provision of services, and import of goods, the press office of the government said.

The program was approved at the government session today.

http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2014/03/...n-armenia-gov/

Gas distribution station? Do you know what that means? Does it mean LNG from a pipe from Iran? Or does it mean a LNG plant in Armenia from a gas line that terminates in Armenia?
Can't quite see what 2 million is going to do.

[Artashes]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Iran to allocate $2m for construction of gas-distribution station


Iran to allocate $2m for construction of gas-distribution station

Iran will allocate $2 million for construction of a gas-distribution station of the cities of Meghri and Agarak in Armenia. The agreement was signed by the Armenian and Iranian governments in December 2011.

The Armenian side will pay for delivery of goods, provision of services, and import of goods, the press office of the government said.

The program was approved at the government session today.

http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2014/03/...n-armenia-gov/

Gas distribution station? Do you know what that means? Does it mean LNG from a pipe from Iran? Or does it mean a LNG plant in Armenia from a gas line that terminates in Armenia?
Can't quite see what 2 million is going to do.

Also, at what price to the "station & to consumer door?
Hate to say it, but by the time oligarch takes its cut and Iran gets theirs, other than diversify options dought any benefit to ordinary citizen.
Hope I'm wrong.

[Mher]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Gas distribution station? Do you know what that means? Does it mean LNG from a pipe from Iran? Or does it mean a LNG plant in Armenia from a gas line that terminates in Armenia?
Can't quite see what 2 million is going to do.

I'm not sure what it means. A lot of these articles are originally written in Armenian and the translation to English is not always very smooth, and that may be the case. You're definitely right about the 2 million. Hopefully someone, maybe Vrej can provide more information. The problem with gas and some of these other crucial factors is that despite their importance, there's so helpful data. You just see the price is 189/tcm, but that doesn't mention the taxes and charges that push up to 393/tcm. More importantly, you don't get comparative data to see what the extra chargers in other countries are, to see how that 393/tcm compares to what final price others are paying.

But I definitely do think when it comes to energy supply line, Armenia must diversify. Especially if Russia's prices are not as competitive as we were led to believe. But regardless, its never good to be in that sort of a position with zero bargaining chip against a country like Russia. More over, Iran, being in a much worse bargaining position, might be will to over a lot more, just to get their in the door of the market.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Energy sector

Diversification of energy supplies is great and yes Russian gas to Armenia is already cheap and Iranian gas is not going to make a difference in the price but it can be strategically important incase instability in Georgia causes interruptions in the supply. There may be a price to pay for diversifying since Russia enjoys a monopoly in Armenia and it may retaliate if the monopoly is broken. The question is what is this price and is it worth it?