Russian State Duma official says Moscow “spoiled” Armenia

Moscow “spoiled” Yerevan in the same way it once “spoiled” Ukraine with cheap gas, while current petrol prices in Armenia reflect the country’s aspiration to join the EU, Leonid Kalashnikov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, has told RTVI.

“They wanted to go to Europe, so let things be like in Europe if they are so eager to go there. I think gas prices will rise as well. If you are unfriendly in your rhetoric and unfriendly in your relations, then why should we supply energy resources at discounted prices out of friendship?” Kalashnikov said.

The lawmaker believes that manifestations of an unfriendly attitude towards Russia should be met with economic measures.

“I have always said this — with regard to Hungary, for example, or Serbia. If there is a manifestation of unfriendliness, it should be met with a response; there is no other way. Otherwise, just as people become spoiled in everyday life, countries become spoiled as well,” he noted.

In his view, “Ukraine was spoiled in the same way at one point”.

“Instead of responding to these facts, instead of investing more in education and the media and implementing various humanitarian projects, we kept offering gas at discounted prices. And what did that gas turn into? First, it became money for the oligarchs — they used cheap gas to produce metal, and then it turned into the oligarchs’ unfriendliness. And through them, this unfriendliness spread downwards. This is a very dangerous thing,” Kalashnikov concluded.

Petrol prices in Armenia have reached a record high, according to CaspianPost. At petrol stations in Yerevan, the price of a litre of AI-92 petrol rose on average from 580 to 600 drams ($1.60-$1.66). Premium petrol increased by 20–30 drams ($0.06–$0.08) to 620–630 drams per litre ($1.71-$1.73), while diesel fuel costs 710 drams ($1.95) per litre.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov