YEREVAN — Addressing the crisis that has emerged in Russia’s fuel market, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was asked what preventive steps the Armenian government plans to take to ensure stability in the domestic market. In response, he said the government had long prepared for such a situation by “eliminating monopolies.”
“Look at what has happened around the world, but what used to happen in Armenia’s petroleum products market did not happen this time. In the past, if someone sneezed, Armenia’s petroleum products market would be shaken. We prepared for this long ago by eliminating monopolies. Today, there are dozens of gasoline importers in Armenia, new investments, new networks of gas stations, and the old ones are also operating. We are confident that this issue will be regulated through market mechanisms,” Pashinyan said.
The prime minister said that the increase in prices is connected to the global situation.
“In other words, we cannot be immune from the global impact of prices in the petroleum products market. Another thing is that, in light of recent developments in the Persian Gulf, we have seen that the market is more or less balanced. Those people who, driven by so-called patriotic motives, say, ‘Oh, they are importing gasoline and diesel from Azerbaijan,’ would have wanted every small shock to cause a collapse in Armenia so they could say, ‘Look what happened,’ and collect money from people’s pockets under patriotic slogans, only to later distribute it again as election bribes. Those times are over,” Pashinyan said.
According to the data, Armenia nearly tripled its reduction of gasoline imports from Russia in 2025 compared to 2024. In 2024, out of a total of 212,000 tons of imported gasoline, Russia supplied 145,000 tons. In 2025, however, out of 220,000 tons of imported gasoline, Russia supplied only 56,000 tons.
In 2025, Armenia imported around 120,000 tons of gasoline from Egypt and Romania, several tens of thousands of tons from Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece, and slightly more than 1,000 tons from Azerbaijan.
In the case of diesel fuel, however, Russia remains the leading supplier. In 2025, out of nearly 180,000 tons of imported diesel, Russia supplied 150,000 tons. In 2024, Russia supplied 151,000 tons out of nearly 160,000 tons of imported diesel.
