Mikayel Melkonyan, a member of an ad-hoc parliamentary committee tasked with looking into the sale of the Armenian government’s remaining 20% shares in the former HayRusGazArd, in order to pay off a US$ 300,000 million debt to Russia’s Gazprom, told Hetq today that the shares had never been valued before the sale.

On June 18, the committee will present its interim findings at a special session of Armenia’s National Assembly.

“The fact that the shares were never valued is clear. There’s a problem with the valuation procedure, said Melkonyan, a member of the Prosperous Armenia party. Regarding additional details on the matter, he told this reporter to wait for the committee’s findings.

As regards to how Armenia racked up $300,000 in debt, Melkonyan said this issue was also problematic and in need of further examination.

Melkonyan said that while he would have liked to see the four non-coalition parties include the issue of the gas and electricity rate increases in their recent twelve point list of demands, he added that the committee would continue to discuss these and other matters.

Melkonyan promised that the committee would have something to say about the fact that rate before the last rate increase the number of HayRusGazArd employees increased by 1,000 and that salaries rose from 119,000 AMD to 227,000.

The MP added that the committee would also touch upon the fact that the price of natural gas is $189 when it reaches the Armenian border, while consumers are charged $390.  

The committee would also touch upon the fact that the price of natural gas is $189 when it reaches the Armenian border, while consumers are charged $390, Melkonyan added.