Russia’s Security Council says Armenia would face much harsher consequences from abandoning Russian gas than Germany or other European countries. The assessment was voiced by Deputy Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Alexey Shevtsov, according to TASS.
Shevtsov was commenting on a statement by Armenia’s Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan that the country would buy gas “from anywhere possible.” In Shevtsov’s view, there is little doubt that giving up Russian “blue fuel” would be far more painful for Armenia than it has been for European states.
The Russian Security Council also argued that gas supplied to Armenia from Russia is substantially cheaper than potential purchases from other countries. The report notes that Armenia buys Russian gas at $177.5 per 1,000 cubic meters.
By contrast, the exchange-traded gas price in Europe, in the Netherlands, is cited at around $875-$1010 per 1,000 cubic meters, depending on market fluctuations. According to the Russian side, that gap illustrates how costly alternative supply options could be for Armenia.
