Armrosgazprom
Armrosgazprom ( Russian Армросгазпром ) is the largest gas importer and supplier in Armenia and also exports natural gas to the internationally unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh . 57.59% of the shares belong to the Russian company Gazprom , 34.70% to the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Armenia and 7.71% to the Russian company ITERA . The Armenian name is Hajrusgasard (Հայռուսգազարդ, in scientific transliteration Hayṙowsgazard).
Corporate development
Armrosgazprom was founded in 1997, with Gazprom acquiring 45% of the shares, the Armenian Ministry of Energy 45% and ITERA the remaining 10%. The company is registered as a closed joint stock company in Armenia. Gazprom Export delivers the natural gas via a pipeline through Georgia , after which the majority is delivered to end customers via the Armenian gas network. The rest will be re-exported to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and a strategic gas reserve will also be built in a salt dome near Abovjan .
Until April 2006 the price for 1,000 m 3 was only 54 US dollars, which corresponds to the subsidized Russian domestic price that Gazprom demanded from some countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) . After Gazprom had raised prices for Georgia and Ukraine to world market level on January 1, 2006 (230 US dollars, see also Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute ), gas prices for Armenia were also to be increased. Thanks to the good relations with Russia, it was possible to keep the old price until the negotiations were concluded in April.
The result was a 25-year agreement on strategic cooperation. The Armenian side was guaranteed a price of 110 US dollars per 1,000 m 3 of natural gas until January 1, 2009, in return the Armenian government sold an important power plant in Hrasdan , which was previously owned by the state, and gave Gazprom a majority stake on the Armenian gas network for 250 million US dollars.
This contract was valued differently. The opposition is of the opinion that Armenia has sold too many strategically important objects to Russian state corporations and is now heavily dependent. Instead, one must be prepared to pay world market prices in order to be independent. President Robert Kocharyan and the government under Prime Minister Andranik Markarjan , on the other hand, emphasized the economic advantages of the treaty. Roger Robinson, the then representative of the World Bank in Armenia, also considered the agreement to be very advantageous and described the very strong Russian presence as "natural", but this was only not a problem as long as there was a strong regulatory authority .
During a state visit to Moscow , the Armenian President announced that Gazprom would acquire a majority stake in the course of a capital increase . On October 27, 2006, the capital increase in the amount of 118.8 million. US dollars decided. Gazprom now owns 57.59% of the shares , Armenia 34.70% and ITERA 7.71%.
Armrosgazprom had around 440,000 customers at the end of 2006 (if you take into account the number of people in the customer households), but management would like to increase this number to 610,000. Another capital increase of $ 190 million is planned for 2007, with the goal of an 80% stake in 2009.
Because of the difficult economic situation in the 1990s, the Armenian government was unable to maintain the network to the extent required, which means that, in addition to expansion, high maintenance investments are required. The return on equity of Armrosgazprom was therefore only 6% percent in 2006, and 12% should be achieved in the next few years.
Individual evidence
- ↑ armenialiberty.org on the contract of 2006 ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b regnum.ru
- ↑ regnum.ru
Web links
- Official website (Russian, Armenian)