Armenia is a notable exception.
Our current government is deliberately ceding power to the Kremlin. The cumulative effect of the moves is to transform Armenia from a sovereign country into a Russian colony.
The latest example is the government’s decision to hand over the last 20 percent of the Armenian natural gas distribution system to Russia’s Gazprom. The deal also gives Gazprom the exclusive right to supply Armenia with gas for the next 30 years.
Much has been written about Russia using oil and gas as a weapon to make countries near and far bend to its will.
A prime example is Ukraine. Russia has raised the price of the gas it supplies Ukraine a number of times in recent years as a way of discouraging Kyiv from joining the European Union.
It has also stopped gas deliveries to Ukraine twice in the past decade. Since most Russian gas to Western Europe flows through Ukrainian pipelines, this meant gas being cut to Europe as well.
Ukraine has at least some leverage with the Russians because it owns its domestic gas distribution system. That has allowed Ukraine to reverse the flow of gas through its pipelines to obtain supplies from Western Europe in recent months.
The Europeans, wary of another Russian gas cutoff to the continent because of growing tension between Moscow and the West, have been diversifying their supplies. That diversification, which is accelerating, is why Ukraine is no longer a gas-supply hostage to Russia.
This is not the case with Armenia. The Russians now own our domestic gas distribution system lock, stock and barrel. This means that Moscow has a sledgehammer it can use to impact Armenian domestic or foreign policy: the threat of cutting off all of Armenia’s gas. The sledgehammer is so large and so formidable that our government makes nary a peep when Russia tells it to implement or reverse a policy.
How did we get to this sorry state where the government has colluded with the Kremlin to turn the country into a Russian colony?
It’s rooted in our government’s desire to stay in power.
In 2011, Russia demanded that Armenia pay more for its gas. The Armenian government, knowing that an increase would anger the public ahead of a new round of elections, agreed to the Russians’ demand but secretly subsidized the cost of gas so the public would continue to pay the same price.
Government officials had to know that sooner or later the country would have to pay dearly for this chicanery.
When the debt that the government owed Gazprom for the higher-priced gas reached $300 million, it agreed to give Gazprom the last 20 percent of the national gas distribution network that the Russian company didn’t already own.
It was tantamount to giving away a national treasure.
The deal not only ensured that the Kremlin could dictate gas prices to Armenia from that point on, but also eliminate supply competition.
Iran, which borders Armenia, has long wanted to supply us with more of its gas. Armenian officials could have used such a supply as a counterweight to keep Russian gas prices down and to give the government more freedom to pursue domestic and foreign policies in Armenia’s interest.
Now that Russia owns our entire national gas distribution system, there isn’t a prayer that Iran will become an alternate supplier. Gazprom would simply refuse to send Iranian gas through the Armenia national distribution system that it owns.
News of our government’s secret subsidizing of the higher-priced Russian gas has angered much of the public.
The National Assembly created an ad hoc committee of both governing-party and opposition lawmakers to investigate the matter. It is supposed to present its findings in May of 2015.
In a best-case scenario for the Armenian people, the findings could lead to voters throwing the rascals out in the next election.
But neither the National Assembly committee’s report, nor a change of government in the next election, will undo the damage that’s been done.Our current government gave away the energy store to the Russians.It deliberately took a key step to make the country even more of a Russian colony than it already was.
This capitulation to the Kremlin is a shameful chapter in Armenian history — one that the country and my fellow citizens will come to regret for a long time.
Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia.
Read also:
Armenia and Russia: Stuck with each other
Putin seizes on Armenia dispute to buttress Iron Curtain
American Russia’s exports to its neighbors is corruption
