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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia would nationalize the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), the country’s electric utility, which is run by the Tashir Group owned by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.
Authorities on Tuesday evening attempted to search Karapetyan’s villa in Yerevan and take him into custody. The businessman’s relatives and supporters gathered there. Several individuals, including Karapetyan’s brother, were taken into custody. Authorities haven’t revealed what Karapetyan is suspected of having committed. He was then escorted to a police department.
Karapetyan, while being escorted into a police vehicle, reportedly said , “I don’t give a damn about them or the electric network.”
Pashinyan, in response, condemned the remarks about the strategically important facility and said it is time to return the power grid to public ownership.
“He says he doesn’t give a damn ‘about them and the ENA'. So these people haven’t even considered ENA as theirs,” Pashinyan said on social media.
“…I think it is time to nationalize the Electric Networks of Armenia. This will take place swiftly,” Pashinyan said, calling on staffers at the utility to continue duly carrying out their work.
The utility has come under criticism for frequent power outages.
Earlier in 2024, during parliamentary hearings on frequent power outages, the regulatory body in charge of the sector was questioned pertaining to financial details of Tashir’s purchase of ENA from Russia’s RAO UES utility in 2015.