500-1000 Employees to Be Laid Off at Gazprom, says Garegine Baghramyan

For the year 2019, we have already negotiated with the Russian side and have some agreements in place that there will be no price increase. This was stated by the newly elected chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission, Garegine Baghramyan, during a conversation with reporters at the National Assembly.

"I have also mentioned that the issue of tariff formation models is being discussed, which means that parameters are fixed for a certain period, during which companies try to implement certain savings, and naturally, they also make investments to achieve those savings. At the end of that period, we obtain specific results. We are talking about a 4-5 year model. There have already been certain proposals. Now we are waiting for the Russian Gazprom group to be formed. In the near future, they will come and we will conduct joint discussions. When we have developments close to completion, they will be subject to public discussion as well," Baghramyan said.

In response to the question of whether it is already clear that the 15% increase in Russian gas at the border will be compensated at the expense of Gazprom Armenia, Baghramyan replied, "Yes, it will also be compensated at their expense. When we finish the model discussions, we will put all calculations and approaches out for public discussion before making new decisions."

Baghramyan also confirmed that during the optimization process, 500-1000 employees will be laid off at Gazprom.