Russia suspends gas exports to Armenia amid cooling relations
Russia will temporarily suspend the supply of natural gas to Armenia through the main gas pipeline "North Caucasus - Transcaucasia". Officially, scheduled repair work is cited as the reason, but the halt comes amid a noticeable political cooling between Moscow and Yerevan and previous threats from the Russian Federation to review preferential energy supply terms due to Armenia's rapprochement with the EU.
As reported by the company "Gazprom Armenia", supplies will be halted for approximately ten days for a set of scheduled maintenance and repair works on the "North Caucasus - Transcaucasia" gas pipeline in Russia.
At the same time, no restrictions are expected for consumers in Armenia itself. The company stated that during the repairs, uninterrupted gas supply will be ensured by using internal reserves and additional volumes of natural gas from Iran.
Russia remains the main supplier of gas to Armenia. Russian "Gazprom" also fully controls "Gazprom Armenia", which operates the country's gas transmission and distribution system.
The current halt is explained by the company solely as due to technical reasons, and there is no confirmation of its connection to political disagreements between Moscow and Yerevan. At the same time, it occurs a few months after Russia directly threatened Armenia with reviewing energy agreements due to the country's European orientation.
In May, Russian media reported on a letter from Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev to the Armenian side. In it, Moscow warned that it may unilaterally suspend or denounce the 2013 agreement on duty-free supplies to Armenia of natural gas, oil products, and rough diamonds if Yerevan continues its movement toward joining the European Union.
The Russian side argued that further rapprochement of Armenia with the EU is allegedly incompatible with the current model of economic cooperation with Russia and the country's participation in the EAEU. Tsivilev later confirmed the fact of such a warning and stated that Armenia must understand the economic consequences of its foreign policy choice.
The Armenian authorities subsequently stated that gas supplies from Russia continue in the regular mode and at current prices. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also said that he does not consider the possible revision of gas agreements as a threat that should stop Yerevan's European course.
