The opposition in Armenia is planning to file a lawsuit against ArmRosGazprom (ARG), the Russian-dominated national gas distribution company, over the “unprecedented and baseless hike in gas tariffs,” because the 37.5 percent hike in the natural gas price, according to the main opposition alliance, Armenian National Congress (ANC), “may be the last straw to make the public go into final bankruptcy.”

ANC appeals to the public not to put up with that “illegal price hike” and, as a co-claimant, it appealed to the court “to dispute the illegal economic and legal bases of making such a decision (hike in gas tariffs).”

The Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia late last week approved the bid of the gas distribution monopolist to raise gas tariffs. (According to that bid, from April 1, about half a million consumers will have to pay 132,000 drams ($347) instead of the current 96,000 drams ($252) per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas. In winter, on a monthly basis gas consumers will have to pay 10,000 drams (about $26) more for natural gas on the average.)

Meanwhile, the opposition insists that the price hike is not economically grounded and that ARG gets super profits.

“It is necessary to check how the expenditures of ARG are grounded, the amount of salaries of the management staff, as well as how the funds are managed,” opposition spokesman Arman Musinyan told ArmeniaNow.

He said that they have studied the investment program of ARG in 2010-2011, and they figured out that “it is quite exaggerated, and it can easily be reduced.” Former Prime Minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan says that it is necessary to be more demanding, because ARG is a state-owned organization, and 20 percent of its stocks belongs to the Republic of Armenia.

“It is very important to know what ARG’s expenditures are. A few weeks ago the head of ARG participated in a ‘bourgeoisie’ party in London [Ed: he means the reception of Prince Charles organized on February 11], where each participant paid 25,000 pounds,” Bagratyan says.

“This is a state organization. Did he ask us whether we wanted him to participate in that ‘bourgeoisie’ party at the expense of the money paid by us? And later he involved that expenditure in the gas tariffs,” Bagratyan says.

Meanwhile, ARG Press Secretary Shushan Sardaryan considers Bagratyan’s statement to be “nonsense.”

“It [the participation of ARG’s head in the London reception] does not correspond to the reality, and that statement is simply nonsense,” Sardaryan told ArmeniaNow.