Arminfo says Armenia’s authorities have started linking the prospect of a gas price increase to the issue of Russia’s 102nd military base in the country. The outlet frames the debate as part of the worsening tensions between Yerevan and Moscow.
According to the report, the Russian side said back in May that it did not rule out raising the price of gas for Armenia if the republic continued its course toward joining the EU. Arminfo says the Armenian authorities initially stayed silent in public, but that later remarks by Nikol Pashinyan and members of his team began to suggest possible countermeasures.
On September 11, Vilen Gabrielyan, chair of the Armenian National Assembly’s standing committee on defense and security and an MP from the Civil Contract faction, told Factor TV that Prime Minister Pashinyan’s hint that Armenia could also make some things “more expensive” if gas prices rise could include higher charges related to the military base. “Why not. Yes. That is also my personal view,” the agency quoted him as saying.
At the same time, Arminfo notes that Russia’s 102nd military base has been stationed in Armenia under an interstate agreement signed in 1995. Amendments made to that document in 2010 extended the deployment term from the original 25 years to 49 years, through 2044.
The publication also argues that the Russian side does not pay rent for the base, and on that basis criticizes public statements suggesting that such a payment could be increased.
