Gazprom Armenia Responds to Nikol Pashinyan's Numerical Claims

Gazprom Armenia has received a series of inquiries from its founder, as well as from media representatives, seeking clarification on the numerical indicators related to natural gas losses mentioned by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a press conference.

The company informs that gas losses consist of two components: losses in the transmission system and losses in the distribution system. Losses in the transmission system are further divided into two indicators:

1. Technological inevitable losses in gas pipelines,
2. Emergency losses.

If we are referring solely to technological inevitable losses in the gas transmission system, these amounted to 107.8 million cubic meters in 2017, and in 2018, they were 96.1 million cubic meters. This also includes losses formed by the contract for the transit of Iranian gas signed between the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant and Transgaz LLC, which are associated with several factors.

For Gazprom Armenia, during 2017, the natural gas losses in the gas transmission system were 91.8 million cubic meters, while in 2018, they were 91.3 million cubic meters, showing a decrease of 0.5 million cubic meters or 0.54%.

In the gas distribution system, natural gas losses in 2017 amounted to 39.5 million cubic meters, while in 2018, they were 27.5 million cubic meters. The actual losses decreased by 12 million cubic meters, of which 8 million cubic meters were exclusively due to cold weather conditions in January, February, and March of 2017 (the data is officially recorded by the meteorological service) as there was underreporting by residential consumers.

It should be noted that the loss figures in the gas distribution system may fluctuate from year to year due to weather conditions, either increasing or decreasing.

In 2018, the reduction in natural gas losses in the gas distribution system amounted to 4.0 million cubic meters or 10.1%.

Regarding the 15% increase in consumption volumes by CNG stations, considering 477.6 million cubic meters in 2017 and 552.6 million cubic meters in 2018, there is approximately a 75 million cubic meter increase in consumption, which is significantly larger than the losses in the distribution system.

Gazprom Armenia could not implement large-scale measures aimed at reducing losses due to its limited financial resources. Currently, Gazprom, Gazprom Armenia, the Armenian government, and the Public Services Regulatory Commission are jointly discussing the main scheme for gas supply and gasification in Armenia, which could lead to significant annual reductions in losses depending on the level of investments realized.

Gazprom Armenia expresses its bewilderment regarding the concept of an unknown consumer or “black gas” consumers. At the same time, it informs that the number of subscribers in 2018 increased by approximately 12,484 compared to 2017. Since there is no notion of “black gas” consumers in the structure of gas consumers, the company is ready to provide complete information on the gas consumption structure to the relevant authorities for research purposes.

To avoid potential misunderstandings and various interpretations in the future, Gazprom Armenia is willing to provide professional clarifications to interested parties regarding the issues at hand.